Renewable energy leader Drax is marking 50 years since Drax Power Station began generating electricity with a brand-new public exhibition at Selby Abbey.
The exhibition, Drax Power Station: Powering Britain for 50 Years, celebrates the unique history of the power station, exploring the crucial role it plays in the UK’s power system and the positive impact it has made on local communities over the years. The exhibition also looks ahead at plans to make the power station the world’s largest engineered carbon removals plant by installing Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology.
The exhibition features photos from the construction of the power station which started in 1967, along with pictures of the finishing touches being applied to its iconic cooling towers, the control room, and its four biomass storage domes which can each hold 80,000 tonnes of compressed wood pellets.
Drax Power Station began the transition from coal-fired power to sustainable biomass generation in 2003 and following the decommissioning of its remaining coal units it is now the UK’s biggest renewable power source by output.
Drax’s BECCS plans will allow Drax Power Station to continue to play a critical role in supporting UK energy security and would enable it to remove approximately 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year when fully operational.
Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Plant Director, said: “Drax Power Station has stood as an iconic landmark on the North Yorkshire skyline for 50 years and provides power for over four million homes and businesses, whilst contributing £358 million to the local economy and supporting 2,500 jobs.
“This exhibition of photos from the proud history of our power station embodies the collective spirit of hard work and innovation of all those who have worked at the power station. It represents Drax’s crucial role in UK energy security and celebrating its transition from coal to sustainable biomass, and heralding an exciting future with BECCS, which we aim to use to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere whilst generating renewable power.”
The exhibition is open to the public and runs from Saturday 28th September to Thursday 10th October at Selby Abbey. Opening Times: Mon-Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 12pm-4pm.
ENDS
Photo caption 1: Aerial view of Drax Power Station in 1975.
Photo caption 2: Construction of one of the cooling towers at Drax Power Station in the 1980s.
Photo caption 3: Drax Power Station control room in 1984.
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Kieran Wilson
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Editor notes
About Drax
Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future and in 2019 announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology.
Drax’s around 3,000 employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production and supply to third parties. For more information visit www.drax.com
Power generation:
Drax owns and operates a portfolio of renewable electricity generation assets in England and Scotland. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.
Having converted Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe. It is also where Drax is piloting the groundbreaking negative emissions technology BECCS within its CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage) Incubation Area.
Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.
The Group also aims to build on its BECCS innovation at Drax Power Station with a target to deliver 4 million tonnes of negative CO2 emissions each year from new-build BECCS outside of the UK by 2030 and is currently developing models for North American and European markets.
Pellet production and supply:
The Group has 19 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.
Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes of new biomass pellet production capacity. The pellets are produced using materials sourced from sustainably managed working forests and are supplied to third party customers in Europe and Asia for the generation of renewable power.
Drax’s pellet plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.
Customers:
Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering a range of energy-related services including energy optimisation, as well as electric vehicle strategy and management.
To find out more go to the website www.energy.drax.com
