DP CleanTech, a leading expert in biomass power, has set up a new European headquarters office in Herlev, Copenhagen. This newest facility represents the company’s 5th strategic investment in the last year, and is in response to the rapid development of the company and the biomass power industry. Employee numbers have increased significantly to meet the anticipated growth in demand for biomass and waste-to-energy power plants in Europe. Many of the expected contracts in 2012 will be facilitated and engineered at DP CleanTech’s new European headquarters in Herlev. This development follows the recent opening of new offices in UK and Thailand; and a workshop in Poland.
For 2012, DP CleanTech expects the majority of demand in Europe to come from the UK, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, largely due to the implementation of government policies and the increased demand for maintenance and revamp services for existing biomass and waste-to-energy facilities. Laust Knudsen, Global Head of Servicing at DP CleanTech said “We are seeing a huge growth in demand for our maintenance services coming from Scandinavian countries, where the market is already quite well established. Many of the biomass and waste-to-energy power plants have been in operation for many years now, furthermore, advances in technology in recent years, means plant owners are looking to benefit from higher efficiencies and better plant availability. The application of Danish technology to meet the increased demand for renewable power in Asia is another source of potential growth”.
Denmark has one of the oldest and most well-established biomass industries in the world, it is estimated the country converts 80% of its agricultural and forestry residues into clean energy. Their model advocates localized collection of waste residues, this low energy intensive method has proven to be extremely successful in bringing reliable baseload power and heat to rural areas in Denmark, and is the model which DP CleanTech aims to replicate in countries all over the world.
DP CleanTech’s references in Europe include one of the first straw-fired power plants in the world at Rudkøbing, Denmark. The plant, commissioned in 1990, is still running well today and has required remarkably little maintenance during its long life time. More modern examples of the companies technology can be seen at Fynesvaerket, Denmark (36 MW) which is testament to the incredible advances in large scale, high pressure high temperature straw-fired technology.