Ørsted fired far more coal at its power plants last year due to the strain on energy supplies in Europe. Ørsted’s coal consumption increased by all of 18% last year despite ambitions to move in a more sustainable direction, reports Danish media Børsen.

As a result of the war in Ukraine, European energy supplies have been tight in the past year and therefore led to increased coal firing for Ørsted. The Danish utility’s combined heat and power stations burned approx. 950,000 tonnes of coal in 2022.

”This is contrary to our ambition and a setback. We make no secret of this. Our ambition is to solve energy crises by expanding renewables, but that will take some time. In the interim, we have been forced to use coal,” remarks Head of Bioenergy and Senior Vice President at Ørsted Ole Thomsen to the media.

Ørsted aims to phase out the use of coal in 2023, but due to problems procuring biomass, which normally is sourced from Russia, and the strained energy situation, the company has not been able to take steps in this direction as intended.

To reinforce Denmark’s power supply, Ørsted has been ordered by authorities to resume and extend operations of coal-fired power plants. As a result, Thomsen does not expect coal consumption to decline in 2023, Børsen notes.