Ørsted to shut down its last coal-fired heat and power plant

Danish renewables firm Ørsted A/S (CPH:ORSTED) is getting closer to shifting to 100% fossil-free energy generation, as it is preparing to shut down its last coal-fired heat and power plant, the Esbjerg Power Station, at the end of the month.

The closure of the facility is the last major step on Ørsted’s journey towards meeting its target of a 99 % green share of energy generation by 2025, the company noted in a press statement today.

The Esbjerg site, which will be shut down on August 31, had an annual coal consumption of about 500,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to around 1.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

Moving ahead, the power production will be covered by other power plants and wind and solar farms. In addition, the local heating supply company in Esbjerg is establishing an alternative production capacity for delivering district heating to the municipality of Esbjerg.

As for the 50 employees at the closed station, they will either move to another position at Ørsted, retire or be let go.

Back in 2022, Denmaked required that Ørsted continue and resume operations of three of its power station units that use oil and coal as fuel. This applied to unit 3 at Esbjerg Power Station, unit 4 at Studstrup Power Station and unit 21 at Kyndby Peak Load Plant. The two latter units had already been decommissioned and preserved. The Studstrup and Kyndby units will be shut down on August 31 as well.

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