Written by: Katie Scott, business reporter
Microsoft has signed an 11-year deal with a Danish biomass energy and carbon capture project, Ørsted. It is claimed to be one of the world’s largest deals by volume. The Danish energy giant has also recently won a 20-year contract with the Danish Government.
The Microsoft deal sees the computing giant buying 2.76 million carbon removal credits from Ørsted. The credits are issued by the Ørsted Kalundborg Hub, which will deploy the carbon capture capabilities at the Asnæs Avedøre Power Stations in Denmark.
Carbon removal involves removing CO2 from the atmosphere and permanently disposing of it underground. According to Business Green: “the Asnæs and Avedøre combined heat and power plants will begin to capture and store biogenic carbon by 2025. From 2026, the two units are expected to capture and store approximately 430,000 tonnes of biogenic CO2 a year.”
Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer at Microsoft, said that the deal was a huge step towards the company’s ambition of becoming carbon-negative by 2030. She stated: "[The deal] sends a strong demand signal to scale the market, and showcases the power of partnership and the technological innovation needed to help the world make the clean energy transition.”
