A waste-to-energy plant called CopenHill in Denmark’s capital features a series of unlikely attractions – in addition to an artificial ski slope and hiking trails on its roof, it also has a climing wall on its façade. Emily Eastman reports
Danish architecture firm BIG’s CopenHill power plant, dubbed the “cleanest waste-to-energy power plant in the world”, opened its rooftop ski slope to the public in October. It has been described by the factory’s managing director, Jacob Simonsen, as an example of “hedonistic sustainability”.
The green, “neveplast”, synthetic turf may not look like snow but it is actually slippery enough to ski and snowboard down – all 450 metres of it. (It’s also the steepest slope of its kind in the world.)
By incinerating waste, it generates enough heat and electricity for 150,000 homes in the area – all while saving waste from landfill where it could emit methane, and releasing less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than if it were burning fossil fuels. (The plant is capable of converting 440,000 tons of waste into clean energy annually.)
In addition to a ski slope, there are 500 metres of rooftop hiking trails with real foliage and the tallest manmade climbing wall in the world (at 85 metres) on its façade. There is also a rooftop bar and fitness area.
Visitors to the slope can bring their own ski gear or rent it on-site. There are four ski runs offering varying degrees of difficulty, plus a freestyle park and a slalom course. A basic one-hour pass costs 50kr (£6).
Pelle Hansen, a local skier, told Reuters: “It’s a fantastic experience in the middle of a city to be able to do what you do like the most. Instead of having to go six, seven, eight or ten hours to a ski destination, you can be here in ten minutes.”
He hopes that the facility will attract more than 300,000 visitors per year, around 65,000 of whom are expected to use the ski slope.
At the opening ceremony of the slope, he said: “As a power plant, CopenHill is so clean that we have been able to turn its building mass into the bedrock of the social life of the city. Its façade is climbable, its roof is hikeable, and its slopes are skiable.”
According to The Guardian, it will achieve this with measure that include: 100 new wind turbines; a 20 per cent reduction in both heat and commercial electricity consumption; 75 per cent of all journeys to be by bike, on foot, or by public transport; the biogas-ification of all organic waste; 60,000 sqm of new solar panels; and 100 per cent of the city’s heating requirements to be met by renewables.
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