Archives: Press Release

Drax secures £500,000 for innovative fuel cell carbon capture study

27 June 2019

Press releases
  • Fuel cell FEED study to assess the feasibility of building a second carbon capture pilot at Drax Power Station will help position the UK as a world leader in the fight against climate change
  • The technology used will produce power at the same time as capturing carbon dioxide from Drax’s flue gases
  • Neighbouring horticultural site will use the CO2 to improve yields and demonstrate how businesses working together in clusters can deliver climate solutions

Th government funding will be used to explore using FuelCell Energy’s molten carbon fuel cell to generate electricity whilst capturing CO2 from the flue gases produced during the combustion of biomass for renewable power generation at Drax.

Once captured, the CO2 will be transported to a horticultural site which is located next to the power station, to help improve its greenhouse yields.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said:

“We believe fuel cell technology could help us to meet the rise in global demand for electricity, whilst capturing the carbon dioxide produced during its generation.

“Our FEED study will help us to understand the technical and economic feasibility of fuel cells, with a view to scaling the technology up, whilst showing that clusters of businesses working together to deliver climate change solutions, can also deliver benefits for their business.”

Chris Skidmore, Energy & Clean Growth Minister, said:

“Cutting edge technology to capture carbon will cut emissions as we work towards a net zero economy while creating new jobs – a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.

“This innovative project from Drax represents a major milestone in efforts to rollout carbon capture at scale by the 2030s.”

The technology developed by US-based FuelCell Energy captures the CO2 from an external flue gas stream whilst also generating electricity. This gives the technology a potential advantage over solvent-based systems, which can consume heat and electricity in order to operate.

“Carbon capture using FuelCell Energy’s solution is a potential game-changer for affordability and efficiency of concentrating and capturing carbon dioxide from emitters,”

said Tony Leo, Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, FuelCell Energy.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Drax and BEIS for such an innovative and critically important subject as cleaner energy.”

The FEED study will explore the potential for utilising the CO2 from the fuel cell pilot to help improve crop yields. Tomatoes and other salad crops will be grown by APS Group in huge greenhouses owned by P3P Partners which are next to Drax Power Station.

Click to view/download graphic

Philip Elborne, Business Development Manager at P3P Partners LLP said:

“We are really excited to be working with Drax on their Fuel Cell carbon capture project. We pride ourselves on building and operating high quality, efficient combined heat and power systems and are committed to delivering the most value to our customers. Being able to utilise CO2 captured from this system into our glasshouses will help us to achieve this while supporting the goal to reduce emissions.”

Phil Pearson, Group Development Director at APS Group said:

“This exciting partnership with Drax will enable carbon dioxide captured at their power station to be piped to our neighbouring glasshouses to produce high quality salad crops. We have already deployed gas-fired combined heat and power systems on all of our British glasshouse nurseries to produce clean electricity for local communities whilst using the carbon dioxide and heat to grow the crops with negligible waste.”

Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s largest renewable power generator after converting two thirds of the plant to use sustainable biomass instead of coal.

It is now looking at a range of technologies which could enable it to capture the carbon dioxide released from the combustion of biomass to become the world’s first negative emissions power station.

The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering have estimated that bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) could enable the UK to capture 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2050 – approximately half the nation’s emissions target.

The Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study will be completed at Drax later this year.

ENDS

We have an animation (https://vimeo.com/329448083/a9c9b21224) which shows how the fuel cell technology works – as well as a graphic (https://www.drax.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Drax_fuel_greenhouse_v6.jpg) showing how CO2 produced at Drax Power Station will be transported to the salad farm nearby.

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0) 771 267 0888

Jessica Gorton
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0) 771 267 7177

Editor’s Notes

  • The funding for the fuel cell Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study at Drax was secured through the government’s CCUD Phase 2 competition.
  • The FuelCell system captures up to 85 tonnes of CO2 per day while generating additional power.
  • The fuel cell runs on natural gas which creates additional CO2 emissions – these are also captured during the process. It will also destroy up to 70% of the NOx emissions from Drax’s flue gases.
  • FCE’s carbonate fuel cell is modular, and this demonstration project will utilise two standard fuel cell modules similar to FCE’s SureSource3000 commercial power generation system.
  • Drax Power Station is the single largest user of sustainable biomass for power in the world – around 75% of the electricity it produces is renewable, enough to power four million households.
  • Biomass, such as sustainably sourced compressed wood pellets, is a renewable fuel – the CO2 captured  when it grew is equal to the emissions it releases when used to generate electricity so it does not contribute new carbon to the biosphere. When coupled with CCS, the overall process of biomass electricity generation removes more CO2 from the atmosphere than it releases – delivering negative emissions.
  • The government’s Clean Growth Strategy identified ‘sustainable biomass power stations used in tandem with CCUS technology’ as a potential route to achieving long-term decarbonisation between now and 2050.
  • Drax is already capturing a tonne of CO2 from its first BECCS pilot project – the first of its kind in the world, using an organic solvent developed by Leeds University spin out C-Capture.
  • Drax announced in May it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor and National Grid Ventures. The three energy companies will work together to explore how a large-scale carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) network and a hydrogen production facility could be constructed in the Humber in the mid-2020s.
  • Drax is also working with Deep Branch Biotechnology to utilise the carbon captured at Drax power station. The pilot project will create protein from the carbon, which can be used as sustainable animal feed.
  • There are other markets which Drax expects to provide significant opportunities such as using the CO2 captured in the creation of synthetic fuels which could help other hard to decarbonise sectors like aviation to reduce emissions.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. 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 two thirds of 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.

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.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com 

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) delivers efficient, affordable and clean solutions for the supply, recovery and storage of energy.  We design, manufacture, undertake project development of, install, operate and maintain megawatt-scale fuel cell systems, serving utilities and industrial and large municipal power users with solutions that include both utility-scale and on-site power generation, carbon capture, local hydrogen production for transportation and industry, and long duration energy storage.  With SureSource™ installations on three continents and millions of megawatt hours of ultra-clean power produced, FuelCell Energy is a global leader in designing, manufacturing, installing, operating and maintaining environmentally responsible fuel cell power solutions.  Visit us online at www.fuelcellenergy.com and follow us on Twitter @FuelCell_Energy.

£5m Boost to scale up ground-breaking carbon capture pilot at Drax, UK’s largest power station

Press releases

The funding will be used by Leeds-based C-Capture and Drax’s Innovation team to further develop its understanding of how C-Capture’s technology could be scaled up at Drax in North Yorkshire, to become the world’s first negative emissions power station in the 2020s – effectively removing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from atmosphere at the same time as electricity is being produced. The company, which was established out of Leeds University’s School of Chemistry, has been working with Drax Group on its successful BECCS project, which started capturing carbon dioxide from February, proving the technology works.

The work being undertaken over the next two years includes:

  • An extension of C-Capture’s existing pilot facilities at Drax Power Station.
  • Plant performance optimisation trials
  • A chemistry validation and testing programme with world-class research partners SINTEF and the CO2Technology Centre Mongstad, in Norway.
  • Process design development to move towards commercial scale deployment, including re-purposing the existing Drax infrastructure for BECCS.

This award represents a vote of confidence in the scheme and will give C-Capture and Drax Group a clearer understanding of how the technology could be scaled up in the 2020s, enabling Drax Power Station to capture and store up to 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

The funding has been awarded by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) through its Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Innovation Programme.

Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, Chris Skidmore, said:

“Cutting edge technology to capture carbon will cut emissions as we work towards a net zero economy while creating new jobs – a key part of our modern Industrial Strategy.  This innovative project from C-Capture and Drax represents a major milestone in efforts to rollout carbon capture at scale by the 2030s.”

Caspar Schoolderman, COO and Project Lead at C-Capture said:

“The on-going support from BEIS and our shareholders – BP, Drax and IP Group – has allowed C-Capture to build a team with unique skills and capabilities. The technology that we have developed is a game changer for carbon capture. Drax Group’s expertise in re-purposing existing infrastructure and C-Capture’s novel CCUS solution could allow the cost-effective deployment of BECCS for the first time on an industrial scale anywhere in the world.”

Aimed at supporting projects which can help deliver cost effective carbon capture initiatives which could then be used in industrial applications, the BEIS funding will help the UK to lead the world in developing CCUS technologies.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said:

“If we scale C-Capture’s BECCS technology up at Drax across all four of our biomass generating units, the impacts will be far reaching.

“As the world’s first negative emissions power station, Drax could become the ‘anchor’ for a CCS network in the Humber region, capturing carbon from other nearby industrial emitters as well as our own CO2.”

“C-Capture’s technology could enable us to not only make a real impact on reducing our own carbon emissions, but also to deliver clean growth and jobs across the north, as well as new export opportunities for the UK making this project of major significance globally.” 

If Drax’s BECCS pilot can be scaled up to deliver negative emissions, Drax Power Station would be helping to remove gases that cause global warming from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced.  Drax Power Station is already the largest decarbonisation project in Europe having converted two thirds of its generating units to use biomass instead of coal.

ENDS

Media contacts:

C-Capture

Professor Chris Rayner
Founder
T: 07879 834689 / 0113 343 6579
[email protected]

Paul Taylor
Taylor Keogh Communications
E: [email protected]
T: 07966 782611 

Drax Group

Jessica Gorton
Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07712 677177

Notes to Editors

  • C-Capture’s technology uses new proprietary solvents to remove carbon dioxide, offering a safer and less expensive alternative to current technologies based on the use of amines. It provides a means to make the removal of carbon dioxide significantly more economic from arrange of large-scale processes, such as power generation from coal, gas and biomass, and the production of cement, steel, and aluminium.
  • C-Capture, based in Leeds, was formed in 2009 by Prof. Chris Rayner as a spin-out from Leeds University with funding from IP Group.  It had to date received £2.2m grant support from the UK Government (the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) through its Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, with further support from the CO2 Capture Project.  C-Capture has also raised £3.5m in new equity funding in a round led by BP Ventures, Drax, and IP Group. The funding underlines the credibility of C-Capture’s technology as the company continues to position itself to help mitigate climate change by providing systems that remove carbon dioxide emissions from power stations and cement, steel and aluminium facilities.
  • The Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report states that BECCS could generate up to 173 TWh of electricity by 2050, capturing up to 51 Mt CO2 – around half of the remaining carbon in the economy that the UK will need to capture to become ‘net zero’.
  • Drax is talking to a number of industries about using the CO2 it is already capturing in their processes. This could be for the production of concrete, putting the fizz in the drinks industry or creating synthetic fuels to use in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation.
  • Drax is also working with the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, and other interested parties to explore the role CCUS can play in turning the Humber Estuary – the UK’s most energy intensive industrial cluster – into the world’s first ‘net-zero-carbon cluster’. It is ideally located for accessing offshore stores in the North Sea such as the Endurance field, which is roughly 60 miles off the coast.
  • If Drax can scale up its BECCS pilot it could create more opportunities for capturing and storing carbon dioxide from other industrial emitters in the Humber region, unlocking the potential to create a new hydrogen economy, creating jobs and delivering major environmental benefits globally.

About C-Capture

C-Capture designs world-leading chemical processes for carbon dioxide removal. It has patented a unique, solvent-based technology which offers a safe, low-cost way to remove carbon dioxide from emissions sources such as power stations, industrial plants and anaerobic digestion for positive environmental benefit. In May 2018 C-Capture announced a partnership with Drax Group to run a pilot of its technology at the North Yorkshire power station, which will see carbon dioxide captured from biomass used in power generation, and show how C-Capture’s technology can be used as part of a process to remove existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (BECCS). C-Capture is proud of the potential its technology offers to mitigate climate change as part of the growing market for environmentally-conscious power generation and industrial processes. The company was formed in 2009 as a spin-out from Leeds University, and is backed by IP Group, Drax and BP Ventures. IP Group was set up with a mission to evolve great ideas, mainly from partner universities, into world-changing businesses.

Read more about C-Capture here and follow on Twitter

About Drax:

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Development Consent Order acceptance

21 June 2019

Press releases

The application is for development consent to construct, operate and maintain a gas fired peaking power generation plant of up to 299 Megawatts (MW) at Abergelli Farm, south of Felindre .

A copy of the application form and its accompanying documents, plans and maps (including the draft DCO and the Environmental Statement) are available until Thursday 2 August, 2018 for inspection free of charge at the following places:

  • Swansea Central Library
    Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea, SA1 3SN
  • Clydach Library
    54-56 High Street, Clydach, Swansea, SA6 5LN
  • Pontarddulais Library
    12 St Michael’s Avenue, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8TE

The application form and its accompanying documents, plans and maps are also available to view online through the Planning Inspectorate’s website and on a dedicated page of this website.

Organisations and/or individuals who wish to register a representation and interest in the examination process that will take place next year (the details and dates of the examination process have yet to be confirmed) can do so via the Planning Inspectorate’s website, giving notice of any interest in, or objection to, the application.

Please note that representations or responses must be received by the Planning Inspectorate by 11.59pm on Thursday 2 August 2018. All representations will be made public by the Planning Inspectorate.

A formal notice explaining that the project has been accepted for examination, where the application documents can be inspected and how people can make a representation has been published in local and national newspapers and placed at various locations around the Site. This notice complies with Section 56 of the Planning Act 2008 and a copy of the notice can be found in the documents section of this website.

Will Gardiner comments on National Grid announcement that Great Britain’s energy system will achieve an historic milestone in 2019

20 June 2019

Press releases

“The UK is decarbonising its energy system more rapidly than anywhere else in the world but to reach our zero carbon targets we need negative emissions. Biomass with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) has the potential to deliver negative emissions. Scaling up our successful BECCS pilot project means Drax could become the world’s first negative emissions power station as soon as the mid-2020s, delivering for the environment and the economy.”

Notes to editors

  • Two thirds of Drax Power Station has been converted from coal to use sustainable biomass, delivering carbon savings of more than 80% and transforming the business to become Europe’s biggest decarbonisation project. Drax is now the biggest renewable power generator in the UK, producing enough renewable electricity for four million households.
  • Biomass is the only flexible renewable which can provide the full range of system support services needed to maintain secure power supplies as more weather dependent renewables come online.
  • Drax’s BECCS pilot could be scaled up to deliver negative emissions as soon as the mid-2020s, which would mean Drax Power Station would be helping to remove gases that cause global warming from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced.
  • Drax is talking to a number of industries about using the CO2it is already capturing in their processes – including for the creation of proteins used in animal feed products.
  • Drax is also working with Equinor and National Grid Ventures in a project to explore the potential to create a zero carbon hydrogen economy in the Humber region. If Drax can scale up its BECCS pilot it could create more opportunities for capturing and storing carbon dioxide from other industrial emitters in the Humber region, unlocking the potential to create a new hydrogen economy, creating jobs and delivering major environmental benefits globally.
  • Today Drax is capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from its pilot – once scaled up it could capture up to 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year

Will Gardiner says COP26 is ‘important opportunity’ for UK to showcase its Net Zero plans

18 June 2019

Press releases
COP24 Poland 2018

“COP26 is an important opportunity for the UK to showcase its plans for a new, net-zero, carbon goal for climate action.

“As a British business we’re proud to be playing our part in the transition towards a zero-carbon economy by working to deliver negative emissions with Biomass Energy Carbon Capture Use and Storage, by producing more renewable energy than any other UK company and by helping our customers reduce their carbon emissions.”

New carbon capture technology could help industry and agricultural sector decarbonise

17 June 2019

Press releases
Salmon fish farm pools in the see lochs near Portree, Sound of Raasay, Isle of Skyue, Highlands of Scotland
  • Innovative biotech start-up, Deep Branch Biotechnology, is partnering with Drax Group on a new bioenergy carbon capture usage and storage (BECCUS) pilot which could help reduce emissions from the agricultural sector
  • Carbon dioxide will be used to create protein which could replace soy and fishmeal, the main components in fish and livestock feeds
  • The project aims to help meet the anticipated increase in global demand for meat products
  • Global markets for single cell proteins could be worth £9bn by 2023

Drax is working with biotech start-up Deep Branch Biotechnology to explore the feasibility of using the power station’s carbon dioxide emissions to make proteins for sustainable animal feed products.

Deep Branch Biotechnology, a leading tech start-up based at Nottingham University, will place a pilot plant within Drax’s Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS) Incubation Area at its power station in North Yorkshire.

It will extract flue gases from the power station’s renewable electricity generation to feed to microbes, which can make single cell proteins for use in fish food and other sustainable animal feeds.

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner said:

“By giving partners like Deep Branch Biotechnology access to our CCUS Incubation Area we can test emerging technologies and explore their potential in delivering for both the climate and the economy.

“We want to create a cleaner environment for future generations whilst generating new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses. Technologies like this could enable some of our more difficult to decarbonise sectors, like agriculture, to make positive changes to address the climate crisis.”

Drax Power Station is the biggest renewable electricity generator in the UK and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe having converted two thirds of the plant to use sustainable biomass instead of coal.

It is exploring the feasibility of using BECCUS technologies to help further reduce its emissions and contribute towards the UK meeting its climate targets. This is Drax’s first incubation project exploring a market for carbon dioxide. The power station has also held discussions with the British Beer and Pub association about the possibility of captured CO2 being used to carbonate drinks.

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner (second right) accompanied Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry in a visit to the Drax Power Station BECCS pilot project in November 2018. Download graphic in high-res

A dedicated Incubation Area has been created at the power station to give other technology companies the opportunity to test their processes on its carbon dioxide.

Chris Skidmore, Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, said:

“Carbon capture, usage and storage technologies are not only putting fizz in our drinks but feeding fish too.

“As we move towards net zero emissions and end our contribution to global warming, innovative projects like this will help reduce agricultural emissions and meet increasing demand for animal feed, demonstrating the enormous global potential CCUS has to tackle climate change.”

Peter Rowe, Deep Branch Biotechnology CEO, explained that the method they have developed for producing proteins from CO2, relies on an edible microbe that consumes carbon dioxide.

When fed carbon dioxide, the microbes grow and reproduce, enabling them to be continually harvested for protein whilst maintaining a growing culture. Under optimal conditions, up to 70 per cent of the material produced is protein.

The benefits of this process over other carbon capture technologies is that the CO2 does not need to be separated from the power station’s flue gases before being fed to the microbes.

Peter said:

“Meat production is set to double by 2050 as global populations increase, but using existing methods of producing animal feeds to meet this growing demand is completely unsustainable.

“The technology we’ve developed is an exciting solution. We can convert up to 60-70% of CO2 into protein, helping to both minimise the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere during power generation and other industrial processes, whilst producing protein for animal feeds which will help reduce the impact of agricultural sectors on the environment as well.”

The USA is the world’s biggest soy producer, producing one third of global supply, and uses 97% to produce animal feed. Over 60% of cereals grown globally are being used in animal feeds along with 20 million tonnes of ocean-caught fish.

Concerns about overfishing have seen the aquaculture (farmed fish) industry boom, yet this industry uses more than 15% of ocean-caught fish for feed, in the form of fishmeal.

The new proteins created using the Deep Branch biotechnology could help reduce the quantities of fish removed from the oceans. This not only minimises the impact on ecosystems, but decreases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mitigating the harmful effects of climate change.

The Deep Branch pilot will get underway in the autumn, when a demonstration plant will be installed within the Drax CCUS Incubation Area.

It aims to capture enough CO2 to produce 100kg of protein to be used to create feedstocks for fish and livestock. The protein generated from the project will be used in a trial project with a major feed producer.

If successful, Deep Branch Biotechnology plans to build a larger production facility by 2020 so it can produce several tonnes of protein per year.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888

Jessica Gorton
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07712677177

Deep Branch Biotechnology
[email protected]

Editors’ note:

  • Drax announced in February that is had started to capture carbon dioxide from its first Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot project using technology developed by Leeds University spin-out company C-Capture.
  • This is the first-time carbon dioxide has been captured from the combustion of a 100% biomass feedstock anywhere in the world. If the pilot can be scaled up to deliver negative emissions, Drax Power Station would be helping to remove the gases that cause global warming from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced.
  • Since starting its innovative BECCS pilot project Drax has been talking to several industries about using its CO2 in their processes. This could be to produce concrete, within the food and drinks industry or creating synthetic fuels to use in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation.
  • Drax announced in May it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Equinor and National Grid Ventures. The three energy companies will work together to explore how a large-scale carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) network and a hydrogen production facility could be constructed in the Humber in the mid-2020s.
  • The Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report states that BECCS could generate up to 173 TWh of electricity by 2050, capturing up to 51 Mt CO2 – around half of the remaining carbon in the economy that the UK will need to capture to become ‘net zero’.
  • Today Drax is capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from its C-Capture BECCS pilot – once scaled up it could be capturing up to 16 million tonnes of carbon a day from its four biomass generating units.
  • The agricultural sector was one highlighted by the Committee on Climate Change in its Net Zero report, as being too slow to make progress in reducing emissions.
  • The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has found that around a third of all global cropland is used to grow animal feed, in the form of soy.
  • Around 15 per cent of all fish caught globally are turned into feed for commercial fisheries, according to analysis by the UK’s Sea Fish Industry Authority.
  • Using bacteria to make protein for animal feed was first considered in the 1970s. It is now more economically viable as producing fishmeal powder from milling and drying fish parts has become more expensive and has not kept up with growing human demand for fish.

 About Deep Branch Biotechnology:  Deep Branch Biotechnology’s mission is to transform the polluters of today into the producers of tomorrow. Their technology removes carbon dioxide directly from emissions, generating single cell protein, a clean and sustainable alternative to soy and fishmeal, the conventional protein sources for livestock and aquaculture feed. They were recently recognised in Forbes’ European 30 Under 30 Manufacturing & Industry 2019.

For more information visit www.deepbranchbio.com

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. 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 two thirds of 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.

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.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Drax Group CEO responds to UK Government’s Net Zero pledge

11 June 2019

Press releases
River Humber landscape, Kingston upon Hull.

“A net-zero economy is vital if we are to avert the climate crisis. By upscaling the successful Biomass with carbon capture and storage pilot at Drax and developing the world’s first negative emissions power station we can deliver for the climate and the economy – well ahead of the Government’s 2050 target.”

For background:

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner at Drax Power Station. Click photo to view in high res for download.hum

  • Drax, Equinor and National Grid Ventures recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) committing them to work together to explore how a large-scale carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) network and a hydrogen production facility could be constructed in the Humber in the mid-2020s. This project will be vital for decarbonising heavy industries which are the cornerstone of the Humber’s economy and enabling future prosperity across the region and the whole of the UK.

 

 

  • Will Gardiner responded to the UK Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report on Thursday May 2: “Bioenergy with carbon capture is the cornerstone around which a low carbon economy can be built: Crucial for tackling climate change, it will also create new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses.”
  • If Drax’s BECCS pilot can be scaled up to deliver negative emissions, Drax Power Station would be helping to remove gases that cause global warming from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced.
  • Drax is talking to a number of industries about using the CO2 it is already capturing in their processes. This could be for the production of concrete, putting the fizz in the drinks industry or creating synthetic fuels to use in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation.
  • Today Drax is capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from its pilot – once scaled up it would be capturing 40,000 tonnes of carbon a day from its four biomass generating units. That’s at a 90% capture rate.
  • Read more about Drax’s Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot here.

Leading energy companies announce new zero-carbon UK partnership from Drax Group on Vimeo.

 

Bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project at Drax Power Station. Click photo to view/download in high res.

Leading energy companies announce new zero-carbon UK partnership

27 May 2019

Press releases
Humber Bridge at Sunset

  • Drax Group, Equinor and National Grid Ventures announce new zero carbon partnership

  • Commitment marks first significant response from industry following Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report

  • Plan could deliver the UK’s first zero carbon cluster and help position Great Britain at the heart of the global energy revolution

This is the first significant action from industry since the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recently published its Net Zero report, which found that CCUS and hydrogen technology developed in regional industrial clusters is essential if Great Britain is going to achieve a ‘net zero’ carbon economy by 2050.

The partnership could lead to the Humber becoming the world’s first net zero carbon region and home to a new world leading hydrogen economy.

View/download graphic with: grey background or white background

Commenting on the partnership, Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said:

“The Committee on Climate Change was clear – the UK needs both bioenergy with CCS and hydrogen production at scale by 2030 to achieve a ‘net zero’ carbon economy. This partnership is committed to meeting this challenge putting Great Britain at the heart of the global energy revolution.

“With Drax’s carbon negative power station, the Humber region could lead the world in new technologies that can deliver for the climate and the economy, helping to create a cleaner environment for future generations whilst creating new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses.

“We’re excited to be working with National Grid Ventures and Equinor on this project – for decades the Humber has been a strategically important industrial cluster for the UK – it has the skills, industrial capability as well as offshore storage to transform itself into a cutting-edge low carbon hub.”

Drax Power Station, North Yorkshire. Click to view/download.

Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor’s executive vice president for marketing, midstream and processing, said:

“As a global leader in CCS and a major gas supplier to the UK for many decades, we are committed to helping shape sustainable solutions for a low carbon future.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Drax and National Grid Ventures in looking at how the Humber region can be a launch pad for wider decarbonisation in the UK economy and be an example for others to learn from. Globally we must see substantial decarbonisation of industry and energy in the years ahead, and we believe CCS and hydrogen must play a significant role in this.”

Equinor’s Snøhvit offshore development in the Barents Sea. Click to view/download.

Jon Butterworth, Chief Operating Officer, Global Transmission, for National Grid Ventures, said:

“We all agree that we must act now to start delivering a ‘net-zero’ carbon economy. That’s why we’re delighted to be working together with Equinor and Drax. This is a project of great potential for the UK and the Humber region and we look forward to leveraging our skills and expertise to enable this transition.

“We have seen rapid progress in decarbonising energy through established technologies such as wind power, solar and electricity interconnectors. CCUS and hydrogen create a new pathway to greater decarbonisation of the energy system and provide a platform for decarbonising other areas of our economy, which will be to the benefit of current and future generations.”

National Grid pipelines. Click to view/download.

The three companies will work together to:

  • Explore the opportunity to scale-up the innovative bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project at the Drax Power Station in order to create the world’s first carbon negative power station in the 2020s.
  • Explore the potential development of a large-scale hydrogen demonstrator within the Drax site by as early as the mid-2020s – in line with the CCC’s recommendation that hydrogen should be produced at scale in at least one industrial cluster by 2030.
  • Explore the strategic opportunities in developing a cutting-edge hydrogen economy in the region.

Equinor’s Tjeldbergodden industrial facility at Nordmøre, Norway, has a methanol plant, a gas receiving terminal and an air separation plant. Click to view/download.

Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire is already capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from its innovative bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project. If it is scaled up it could serve as the ‘anchor’ for a regional CCUS network capturing millions of tonnes of carbon each year from nearby industrial emitters.

Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry visited the Drax Power Station BECCS pilot project in November 2018. Click to view/download.

The consortium has the collective expertise and credibility to deliver on the CCC recommendation for large-scale trials of hydrogen, development of CCS transport and storage infrastructure, and the deployment of BECCS at scale.

A study outlining the technical, economic and societal opportunities for CCUS and hydrogen in the Humber region will be published by the partners later this year.

ENDS

Media contacts

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: +44 7712 670 888

Eskil Eriksen
Equinor Communication Manager
E: [email protected]
T: +47 9588 2534

Sara Revell
National Grid Ventures Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: +44 1926 653962

Editor’s Notes

  • The consortium will work with partners in the public and private sectors to harness the Humber’s key strengths and capabilities and help it become the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster. These include:
  • Its position as the largest industrial cluster in the UK by emissions;
  • Its proximity to Drax Power Station, which could become the single largest source of ‘negative emissions’ in the UK through its BECCS project;
  • The extensive engineering design work previously undertaken to develop a large-scale carbon transportation and storage network in the region as part of the White Rose CCS project;
  • Its proximity to the Endurance and Bunter aquifer in the North Sea, a large natural CO2 store which could be used by the Humber and other nearby industrial clusters to permanently store their carbon emissions.
  • Drax announced in February that is has started to capture carbon dioxide from its BECCS pilot project using technology developed by Leeds University spin-out company C-Capture. This is the first-time carbon dioxide has been captured from the combustion of a 100% biomass feedstock anywhere in the world.
  • Since starting its innovative BECCS pilot project Drax has been talking to several industries about using its CO2 in their processes. This could be to produce concrete, within the food and drinks industry or creating synthetic fuels to use in hard-to-decarbonise sectors like aviation. It has set up a dedicated ‘Incubation Area’ at the power station that will give other technology companies the opportunity to test their processes on its carbon dioxide.
  • Drax Power Station is already the largest decarbonisation project in Europe having converted two thirds of its generating units to use biomass instead of coal.
  • If the BECCS pilot can be scaled up to deliver negative emissions, Drax Power Station would be helping to remove the gases that cause global warming from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced.
  • The Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero report states that BECCS could generate up to 173 TWh of electricity by 2050, capturing up to 51 Mt CO2 – around half of the remaining carbon in the economy that the UK will need to capture to become ‘net zero’.
  • Today Drax is capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide a day from its pilot – once scaled up it would be capturing 40,000 tonnes of carbon a day from its four biomass generating units. That’s at a 90% capture rate.
  • The CCC’s Net Zero report also identified that at least one of the UK’s CCUS regional clusters should involve substantial production of low-carbon hydrogen by 2030 to stay ‘on track’ for net zero. It also recommends that infrastructure development for CCUS should start as early as possible, in all regional clusters with large industrial emissions.
  • The recently published H21 North of England study has also shown that up to 3.7 million homes as well as other industrial processes could be converted from natural gas to hydrogen to meet the UK’s climate change targets

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of 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.

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.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

About Equinor

Equinor is transitioning into a broad energy company committed to long term value creation in a low carbon future inspired by its vision of shaping the future of energy. Equinor continues to pursue its strategy of always safe, high value and low carbon through developing and maximising the value of its unique Norwegian continental shelf position, its international oil and gas business, its manufacturing and trading activities and its growing new energy business.

Equinor is a leading provider of oil and gas to the UK and has three offshore wind projects in the UK: Sheringham Shoal, Dudgeon and Hywind Scotland, the world’s first floating offshore wind farm. It is developing three further offshore wind projects at Dogger Bank which would make up a further 3.6 GW of capacity. It is also developing the Mariner and Rosebank projects on the UK Continental Shelf and is an active explorer with five exploration wells being drilled in 2019.

Equinor has more than 20 years’ experience with CO2 storage in both offshore and onshore locations. It is currently storing up to 1.8 million tonnes per year, equivalent to the emissions from 850,000 cars, and is the operator for Northern Lights, the transport and permanent storage section of Norway’s full-scale demonstration project for CCS.

In addition, Equinor has extensive expertise across the hydrogen supply chain, including through producing hydrogen for its methanol plant at Tjeldbergodden in Norway, and is engaged in feasibility studies to evaluate the conversion of a combined cycle power station from natural gas to hydrogen fuel.

About National Grid Ventures

National Grid Ventures is part of National Grid plc, one of the world’s largest investor-owned energy companies. Separate from National Grid’s core regulated businesses, NGV develops, operates and invests in energy projects, technologies and partnerships to accelerate the development of a clean energy future for consumers. NGV’s existing portfolio includes four gigawatts of operational electricity interconnector capacity connecting the UK with neighbouring markets, which enables the delivery of cleaner, more secure and more affordable energy. NGV is also constructing three more interconnectors to France, Norway and Denmark and has recently announced an agreement to acquire Geronimo Energy, a leading US-based renewable energy developer.

Harry harks back to his head for heights – 50 years on from building giant power station chimney

23 May 2019

Press releases
Harry Shann, Drax engineer

Harry Shann, now 83, was part of the team who worked at Drax Power Station 50 years ago constructing the 850ft high chimney, which has three flues linked to the site’s six generating units, four of which now run on sustainable biomass instead of coal.

The chimney took just four months to build after work started in early 1969 and was completed four months ahead of schedule by a team of around 30 workers, with the topping out ceremony held in May to celebrate its completion.

Now, Harry, who was just 33 when he joined the project and still lives locally in Selby, has spent time back at the Drax site to reflect on his involvement in the record-breaking construction project.

He said:

“I still see it pretty much every day. It was definitely the highest build I ever worked on.

“I’m very proud of it, even after all these years, and I can still remember the time I spent on site. Considering the size of it though, we weren’t there long. We really got a move on.”

Due to the height of the structure, reaching the top can only be achieved by an eight-minute journey in an industrial lift or by scaling the 1,460 steps spiralling up the central void of the chimney.

Views from the top can stretch as far as the Humber Bridge more than 30 miles away on a clear day – and Harry admits it was only a job for those who were comfortable working high above the ground.

“I just never had a fear of heights. I was in the Parachute Regiment before I became a scaffolder, so that might have had something to do with it,”

the octogenarian said on his return visit to view the huge structure he helped to create.

“Being back at Drax Power Station, I realise just how much it’s changed. When I worked here, looking down from the chimney the area was bare, with hardly any buildings. Now it’s just amazing, it’s a wonderful site and I feel proud that the chimney is still standing 50 years later.”

The North Yorkshire power station, which first began generating electricity in 1974 when the first of its six generating units was commissioned, now produces enough electricity to supply five per cent of the UK’s power and is the biggest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Drax Power CEO Andy Koss said:

“Harry’s efforts, along with his colleagues’, in building such an important and iconic part of the power station are an integral part of Drax’s history and ongoing success.

“50 years on it is still the tallest industrial chimney in the UK – in many ways its completion marked the start of a rich heritage for engineering excellence and innovation at Drax, which has continued to the present day.”

Earlier this year, Drax confirmed that its groundbreaking trial of bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS), using technology developed by Leeds-based C-Capture, had become the first project of its kind in the world to capture CO2 from a 100% biomass feedstock.

Drax has converted two-thirds of its generating units at the site near Selby to use sustainable biomass instead of coal transforming the business to become the largest renewable power generator in the UK. 

ENDS

Chimney facts:

Drax chimney’s foundations are 70ft-deep.

The 44,000 tonne chimney cost around £1.5 million to build in 1969, the equivalent to £30 million today.

It’s almost twice the height of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The record for the highest chimney in the world belongs to the Gres-2 Power Station in Kazakhstan. Built in 1987, it stands 1,377ft (420m) tall.

Media contacts:

Mark Duffell
MCD Communications Ltd
E: [email protected]
T: 07969080272

Jessica Gorton
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07712677177

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. 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 two thirds of 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.

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.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.


Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com