Few people are aware that it is possible to ski in almost every one of Europe’s 51 nations. Countries you might not expect — Portugal, say, and Cyprus — have ski hills and the Netherlands has an indoor snow slope much bigger than Ski Dubai. Only places like San Marino and Vatican City lack a ski slope.

But it’s still a surprise that Denmark is about to become the home to one of the world’s most iconic ski slopes. The fairly flat and not particularly snowy country does have one short natural slope — at Roskilde, east of Copenhagen — that sometimes has enough snow for skiing, but it’s a stunning year-round ski slope in the capital itself, being built on the sloping roof of a vast new green power, that is the big new draw.

When planning to build the Amager Bakke waste-to-power incinerator plant as part of its plan to become the world’s first zero-carbon city by 2025, the Danes decided to move away from the usual monolithic, industrial look. Instead they sought to make the publicly owned facility an attraction in its own right — clad in shiny aluminium, surrounded by parkland, and with one of the world’s longest artificial ski slopes on its roof.

The vital numbers for skiers are that there will be a 440-metre slope offering four levels of difficulty: easy and moderate runs plus a 180-metre black run pitching at up to 45 per cent. The top of the ski runs will be accessed by elevators running up through the interior of the plant. The plant itself is expected to burn 400,000 tonnes of waste annually into enough clean energy to power 60,000 homes and communal heating plants for 160,000, with ultra-pure water the waste product. Construction work began in 2013 and the incineration plant will come on line on December 1, while the ski slope is set to open next year.

The slope concept comes from the Bjarke Ingels Group (Big), which has made a name for itself with revolutionary architectural concepts around the world. It originally envisaged the plant blowing a giant smoke ring from the summit to symbolise the conversion of waste to clean power.

“Big is still working on the smoke rings; it is not clear yet if they have a viable solution or not, but we’re crossing our fingers,” said Patrik Gustavsson, the man charged with bringing skiing to Copenhagen.

Another issue to iron out is safety. It’s an 86-metre vertical drop from the top of the power plant to the ground, so, as with a mountain cliff, precautions must be made to ensure skiers don’t accidentally slide over the edge. “We’re working with some of the world’s most renowned ski security experts to ensure that it is as safe to go skiing here as anywhere else,” said Gustavsson. “One possibility is using nets as safety devices.”