Danish renewable energy company Ørsted has taken its next big step towards the realisation of Denmark’s first full-scale carbon capture and storage project, the Ørsted Kalundborg CO2 Hub. It’s done so by lifting into place key components of carbon capture facilities under construction at the Asnæs and Avedøre Power Stations.

According to a company press release announcing the achievement, five sets of absorbers, desorbers, and direct contact coolers are now in position and work has started on installing “internals and piping for the key components, connecting them to the rest of the power stations.”

Additionally, Ørsted has received CO₂ tanks where the captured carbon dioxide will be stored intermediately until it is shipped to the Northern Lights storage reservoir in the Norwegian part of the North Sea once the Ørsted Kalundborg CO₂ Hub is operational.

The facility was awarded a 20-year contract by the Danish Energy Agency in May 2023, and will capture 430,000 tonnes of biogenic CO₂ annually from the two straw- and woodchip-fired power plants. This is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions from approximately 200,000 petrol-powered cars.

Ørsted will capture 150,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon per year from the straw-fired unit at Avedøre Power Station. The unit converts locally sourced straw into electricity and district heating.

The carbon dioxide will initially be transported by lorry to Asnæs Power Station until a potential shared pipeline infrastructure across Zealand has been established.

280,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon per year will be captured from the wood chip-fired unit at Asnæs Power Station, which will also function as a carbon dioxide hub, handling and shipping biogenic carbon from both the Avedøre and Asnæs power stations to the Northern Lights storage reservoir in the Norwegian part of the North Sea.

The hub is expected to be operational in early 2026.

Read the full press release here.