Denmark has selected fossil fuels, ie, oil, gas and coal, as its main means of energy production. Coal is the main energy source used by Energi E2, a company which owns and operates a number of power plants in Eastern Denmark and also has a number of wind turbine power plants. To feed the power plants, some 350 vessels call on the discharging stations each year. These are mostly bulk carriers transporting coal but some oil is also unloaded.

“Normally, we don’t accept bulk carriers that are more than 15 years old, but if we know the owner and the hull certificates we can accept vessels that are up to 20 years old, and even some Panamax vessels that are 25 years old,” says Boye Dyrekær, Operations Manager for Fuels. “Most of the coal we import comes from Russia, Colombia and South Africa,” adds Søren Alsing, Fuel Manager.
“With most of the vessels arriving during the winter months when the demand for electricity is at its highest, it’s very important to us that our coal deliveries are on time and carried out safely. This is vital to us as well as to the Danish authorities. So the quality of the vessels arriving here must be acceptable. We have two ports for handling Capesize bulk carriers and three for handling Panamax vessels located close to the power plants,” says Dyrekær.
Energi E2 relies on coal for about 60% of its power production, biomass for some 12%, gas for 20% and oil for the rest. In addition, it has an installed capacity of 35 TW wind power in Eastern Denmark. “We’re quite proud of using 90% of the power we produce for electricity and heating,” concludes Alsing.

Date: 07 February 2008