Ørsted increases carbon offtake deal with Microsoft

May 22, 2024
The 430,000 mt/year of biogenic CO2 from the combined heat and power plants will be transported to a subsurface reservoir in the Norwegian North Sea for permanent storage.

Offshore staff

FREDERICIA, DenmarkØrsted has clinched an agreement to sell a further 1 MMmt of carbon removal to Microsoft from the Avedøre power station in Denmark.

This is part of the Ørsted Kalundborg CO2 Hub bioenergy carbon capture and storage project, due to start operations early in 2026. Ørsted plans to implement carbon capture at its wood chip-fired Asnæs facility in Kalundborg, western Zealand, and at Avedøre’s straw-fired boiler in the Greater Copenhagen area.

The 430,000 mt/year of biogenic CO2 from the combined heat and power plants will be transported to a subsurface reservoir in the Norwegian North Sea for permanent storage.

This latest agreement builds on an existing commitment from Microsoft to buy 2.67 mt of CO2 from Asnæs power station, lifting the total purchase under contract to 3.67 mt of CO2.

Under the process, the combined heat and power plant converts locally sourced straw from the agriculture industry into electricity and district heating.

By capturing the biogenic carbon from biomass-fired combined heat and power plants and storing it underground, CO2 can be removed from the atmosphere, Ørsted claims, as biogenic carbon from sustainable biomass is part of a natural biogenic carbon cycle.

05.22.2024