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Fossil fuel ruling could improve efficiency of CHP plant
November 25, 2009 - by Emma Ritch, Cleantech Group
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The Danish government has approved a plan for DONG Energy to use fossil fuels in a biomass boiler at Avedøre Power Plant, a combined heat and power facility that’s one of the most efficient in the world.
The Danish energy company plans to begin the initiative in 2010. Surprisingly, the fossil fuel flexibility could actually lower the facility’s carbon emissions, since the fuel is to be used at the 810-megawatt plant’s most efficient unit.
As part of the government approval, DONG Energy must also double the amount of energy produced using wood pellets. The company expects to burn 600,000 tons of pellets in 2009, with about 40 percent coming from the Baltic region, and 20 percent each from Germany, Portugal and Russia.
DONG has not yet been told when the fossil fuel flexibility can start.
The Avedøre Power Plant has two energy-producing units. The oil-coal unit commissioned in 1990 has an electrical efficiency of 47 percent, which increases to 91 percent when producing district heat.
The second unit, commissioned in 2001, uses wood pellets, natural gas, and straw, with an electrical efficiency of 49 percent, rising to 94 percent when producing district heat.
See the district heat storage »
The unit has a main boiler that gets 70 percent of its fuel from wood pellets, with the remainder from natural gas and oil. It also has a large biomass plant that's 94 percent efficient at using straw, as well as gas turbines developed by Rolls Royce.
See the straw before it enters the biomass boiler »
A typical power plant has an efficiency of about 34 percent.
The most efficient unit, the second, is the one that could begin using fossil fuels next year, DONG says. The utility doesn't plans to increase the fossil fuel use, just to shift production to take advantage of the greatest efficiencies.
Avedøre provides electricity to 1.3 million homes, and district heat to 200,000 homes.
DONG plans to commission two 3.6-MW wind turbines before the end of November to provide power to an additional 5,000 homes. The offshore wind turbines were specially developed by Siemens for the Avedøre site, which is close to the coast.
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