• Danish waste-to-energy/ski slope/climbing wall hybrid opens recreational services

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      Patrick Lavery

      Combustion Industry News Editor

Construction of the power generation part of a combined heat-and-power waste incineration plant that also features a ski slope is advancing in Copenhagen. The Amager Bakke plant is the brainchild of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, the architectural style being what he describes as “hedonistic sustainability” – that is, facilities and infrastructure that have a sustainable function but also feature some aspect of entertainment or hospitality. In the case of Amager Bakke, the entertainment is the ski slope, providing a ‘mountain’ in an otherwise flat Copenhagen, as well as a 85 m climbing wall, complemented by a bar and restaurant. The hedonistic side of the facility is complete and has recently opened to the public, but the waste-to-energy part is still underway, with a former coal-fired plant being converted to fire biomass. The combined design output is 310 MW (63 MW electricity and 247 MW heating), although there are fears – if fear is the word – that Denmark will not produce enough waste to make the plant fully operational.