Photo: Profil luftfoto

Waste incineration at Esbjerg, Denmark 

L90, The Danish Waste Supplier Association, decided to establish a waste incineration plant at Esbjerg, Denmark. The plant was designed to cover 35 municipalities and have a capacity of 24 tonnes/hour, corresponding to 180,000 tonnes/year. The need for the incineration plant was a result of the increasing volume of waste and the passing of the "Act of prohibition of disposal of waste fit for incineration".

Along with solving the waste problem arisen, the plant produces electricity and district heating, and in so doing it replaces some of the coal-based heat production at Esbjerg.

In the spring of 1999, COWI won the tender as consultant for the proj-ect and subsequently carried out preliminary planning and tendering of machinery and electric installations. Construction of the plant was initiated in the spring of 2001 and was ready to receive waste in the early summer of 2003.

Setting the overall objectives for the new "waste to energy plant", it was a clear wish to create an incineration plant offering the best possible functional, environmental and financial conditions and at the same time to design a building with an outstanding architectural element.

Incineration technology was chosen on the basis that in practice the technology must be well documented and have proven to be reliable and optimized as to treatment of the waste supplied. Correspondingly, the general idea was to choose a flue gas purification plant that based on practical experience has proven its capability of meeting present and future requirements. Thereby, it was ensured that the incineration plant would not affect the environment and in particular the immediate environment.

Moreover, it was an indispensable condition that the plant should have high availability, more than 8,000 hours per year, high energy efficiency and provided for intensified future demands from the environmental authorities in order to prevent modifications to the largest possible extent.

Equipment established in the process:

  • SCADA system for effective control and monitoring of the processes
  • System for use of technical water in connection with flue gas purification, cinder cooling and other processes in which drinking water quality was not required
  • Flue gas coolers for maximum utilization of the energy content of the waste. The plant was expected to achieve a unique actual efficiency of more than 90%.

In addition to this:

  • An environmental policy was drawn up for the plant etc.
  • A data manual for the optimal design of constructional documentation and maintenance was prepared
  • A site for maturing, grading and stocking of cinder was also planned.