The Avedøre Power Station ( da, Avedøreværket) is a

combined heat and power Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...

station, located in Avedøre,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, just south of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, and is owned by Ørsted A/S. Avedøre Power Plant is a high-technology facility and one of the world's most efficient of its kind, being able to utilize as much as 94% of the energy in the fuel and convert 49% of the fuel energy into electricity. Apart from using

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

(oil) and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

, the plant runs on a wide variety of

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bio ...

fuels such as

straw Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number ...

and wood pellets. The plant consists of two units with a total capacity of 793 MW of electricity and 918 MW of heat. The combination of producing electricity (

) and heat for

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating ...

at the same time is widely used in

and the rest of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, due to the need of domestic (and industrial) heating together with the Danish energy companies putting a big effort into optimising the energy plants. The Avedøre Power Station was designed by the architects Claus Bjarrum and Jørgen Hauxner.

Avedøre unit 1

Having been built in 1990 this is the oldest unit. Coal was the primary fuel used in this unit, but oil can also be used. By utilising the excess heat from the power production for

, Avedøre unit 1 attained an

energy conversion efficiency Energy conversion efficiency (''η'') is the ratio between the useful output of an energy conversion machine and the input, in energy terms. The input, as well as the useful output may be chemical, electric power, mechanical work, light (rad ...

of up to 91%. This made Avedøre 1 one of the world's most efficient coal-fired power plants. , it is being converted from coal to wood pellets at a price of DKK 740 million. It will burn 1.2 million tonnes of wood pellets per year, reducing emissions with about a million tonnes.Wittrup, Sanne.
Dong Energy starter ombygning af Avedøreværket
'' Ingeniøren'', 27 March 2015. Accessed: 27 March 2015.

Avedøre unit 2

Having been built in 2001 this is the newest and most efficient unit at Avedøre Power Station. It is able to burn a wide variety of fuels like

heavy fuel oil Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency. Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of petroleum. For this reason, HFO is contaminate ...

and wood pellets in the same burners. It has a super critical

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

, built by the Danish company Burmeister & Wain Energy. The Avedøre unit 2 has a production capacity of 585 MW of electricity and 570 MW of heat and is the most efficient of the two units. The Avedøre unit 2 also consists of multiple sub-units. The main sub-unit, the super critical boiler is linked to a

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...

and an

electrical generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power ( mechanical energy) or fuel-based power ( chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, ...

. One of the world's biggest

boilers also is connected to this in parallel to the turbine. Furthermore, unit 2 comprises two separate gas turbines with a capacity of 110 MW each. Avedøre unit 2 has an electrical efficiency of 49%, which makes it one of the world's most efficient. This record high efficiency is obtained when the unit is only producing electricity. When also producing heat for

the electrical efficiency decreases, as the heat exchange is carried out at a higher temperature. If the export of heat energy to district heating is taken into account the

reaches 94-96%, making it one of the world's most efficient

(CHP) stations. In preparation for conversion to 100% biomass in 2027, the plant has received a 360 tonne crane capable of transferring 800 tonnes of wood pellets per hour from ship to shore, although some environmentalists question the benefits of biomass.Biomass darker than coal
. Ingeniøren, July 2013. As a by-product, high quality

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

is made when cleaning the

flue gas Flue gas is the gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue, which is a pipe or channel for conveying exhaust gases from a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler or steam generator. Quite often, the flue gas refers to the combustion exhaust gas produc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avedore Power Station Energy infrastructure completed in 1990 Energy infrastructure completed in 2001 Power stations in Copenhagen Cogeneration power stations in Denmark Oil-fired power stations in Denmark Coal-fired power stations in Denmark Natural gas-fired power stations in Denmark Biomass power stations in Denmark Ørsted (company) 1990 establishments in Denmark

Avedøre unit 1

Avedøre unit 2

See also

References