The City Councils of the municipalities, who own the waste-to-energy plant Amagereforbrænding in Copenhagen has decided to establish a new waste-to-energy facility "Amager Bakke" ("Amager hill") in Copenhagen.

Amager Bakke will be a world-class flagship facility from an environmental, energy efficiency and architectural point of view.

Amager Bakke will replace Amagerforbrænding's existing facility, which for more than 40 years has recovered energy from waste produced in and around Copenhagen.

Inspiration for other countries

This plant can inspire other countries, which still dump the waste at landfills or locate the waste-to-energy power only plants far from heat markets. The architectural design and the excellent environmental protection make the plant acceptable, not least as it is located in a district dedicated for technical installations – one of the two "smart back yards" of Copenhagen.

Thereby the plant and the district heating system demonstrates the basic idea of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive, as the waste heat, which else would be wasted, from the plant can be delivered to homes all over Greater Copenhagen.

This €470 million project will be one of the largest waste-to-energy facilities in Northern Europe to be built in one step. Ramboll’s waste-to-energy team has been working for Amagerforbrænding on this project since 2009 with, inter alia, comprehensive technical and environmental assessments and procurement of the total electro-mechanical process plant.

The plant will have an electrical efficiency of around 25% and a total efficiency of 107% (based on lower calorific value) as the plant will deliver heat to the integrated district heating system in the Copenhagen Region and be equipped with flue gas condensation. The low return temperature from the efficient heating systems in buildings will via the distribution network of Copenhagen Energy and CTR condensate the wet fluegas and extract thermal energy, which else would be wasted in the flue gas.

Ski slope on the roof

For Ramboll the decision to implement the project means that over the next four years we will be assisting Amagerforbrænding in the implementation of this significant and exciting project.

The project is known by many people all over the world for being the waste-to-energy facility with a “ski slope” on the roof – an idea created by the Danish architect group BIG.

Picture: Architecture Group BIG

See also Ramboll profile.

Contact: Inger Anette Søndergaard, Head of Department.

Phone  +45 51618683 E-mail  [email protected]