Archives: Press Release

During the visit to C-Capture’s premises, Rachel Reeves MP heard how a Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot project is expected to get underway at Drax Power Station this autumn, which will be the first of its kind in Europe.

The chemistry being used in the pilot project has been developed by C-Capture – a Leeds University spin-out. During her visit to the company’s facilities, Rachel Reeves, who is MP for Leeds West, got to see some of the equipment which will be installed at Drax Power Station for the pilot.

Rachel Reeves said:

“This BECCS project between C-Capture and Drax is ground-breaking. If it works, it could put Yorkshire and the UK at the forefront of the race to develop the BECCS technology which is essential to tackling climate change. It’s very exciting and I look forward to hearing more as the pilot progresses.”

BECCS is vital to global efforts to combat climate change because the technology will mean the gases that cause global warning can be removed from the atmosphere at the same time as electricity is produced. This means power generation would no longer contribute to climate change, but would start to reduce the carbon accumulating in the atmosphere.

Drax, the biggest power station in the UK, near Selby in North Yorkshire, is investing £400,000 in the BECCS pilot project with C-Capture. Since it converted two thirds of the power station to use biomass instead of coal it has become the biggest single site renewable power generator in the country and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Andy Koss, Drax Power CEO, said:

“This BECCS pilot has the potential to make the renewable electricity produced at Drax Power Station carbon negative. If we’re serious about meeting our climate targets, then negative emissions are a must – and BECCS is what’s going to get us there.”

Chris Rayner, founder of C-Capture and Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Leeds, added:

“During the six month pilot at Drax, we aim to use our chemistry to capture a tonne of carbon a day and in the process demonstrate that if the project was scaled up we could achieve one of the holy grails of CO₂ emissions strategies – negative emissions in power production. That’s where we believe the potential CO₂ emissions reductions are likely to be the greatest.”

C-Capture is a spin-out from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Leeds, established through funding from IP Group Plc.

ENDS

Media contacts

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

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

Editor’s Notes

• Drax Power Station is the single largest user of sustainable biomass for power in the world – 65% of the electricity it produced in 2017 was 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.

• A report by the Energy Technology Institute in 2016 has suggested that by the 2050s BECCS could deliver roughly 55 million tonnes of net negative emissions a yearin the UK – approximately half the nation’s emissions target.

• 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.
• C-Capture is a spin out from the Chemistry Department at Leeds University and has attracted support from IP Group, the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Energy Entrepreneurs Fund and the CO₂ Capture Project for CO₂ capture technology, which has potential in a range of areas including biogas upgrading, natural gas sweetening and hydrogen production. 

About Drax

Drax Group plc plays a vital role in helping change the way energy is generated, supplied and used. Its 2,300-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

The Group includes:

Drax Power Ltd, which operates the largest power station in the UK, based at Selby, North Yorkshire and supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs. The energy firm converted from burning coal to become a predominantly biomass-fuelled electricity generator. Drax is the biggest single site renewable generator in the UK and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.

Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Drax Biomass, is based in the US and manufactures compressed wood pellets produced from sustainably managed working forests, supplying fuel 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/uk

Runners completed either a 5km or 10km route around Drax’s Skylark Nature Reserve as part of the company’s Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning event on Friday (September 28).

Each member of the Drax team donated £1 per kilometre to take part in the event with those completing the 10km route climbing to the top of local landmark Barlow Mound which is next to the power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire.

Staff also contributed to Macmillan’s ‘World’s Biggest Coffee Morning’, by making home-baked cakes and treats to sell in aid of the charity – with staff contributing to cake stalls around the power station site.

The monies raised were then match funded by Drax. In total they raised £2,500 for the charity, which provides support and advice to people with cancer and their families.

Macmillan Area Fundraising Manager for North and East Yorkshire, Clara White, who was on hand to start the race, thanked the runners as they came over the finish line.

She said, “I was delighted to be able to attend the Big Skylark Fun Run – the money raised by Drax Power Station staff is vital to the work we do to help thousands of people affected by cancer and their families across Yorkshire very year.

“Congratulations to all the runners, and thanks also to everyone who baked and bought cakes during the coffee morning. I hope all the runners treated themselves to an extra large slice of cake afterwards – they certainly earned it!”

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner, who participated in the 5k run, said:

“Congratulations to all the staff involved today – it was great to see such a fantastic turn out for a worthy cause. The run has been such a success we hope to make it an annual event.”

Drax Power CEO Andy Koss, who completed the 10k course added:

“The run was a lot of fun – the run up Barlow Mound was a little challenging, but worth it for the views from the top!”

“The work of Macmillan in supporting cancer patients and their families is vital – most of us have been affected by cancer at some point in our lives, so perhaps it’s no surprise that so many of our staff got involved and showed their support. The runners and bakers were brilliant – but the team which organised the event was also fantastic. Well done all.”

ENDS

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Interim Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712 670888

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

Editor’s Notes

About Drax

Drax Group plc plays a vital role in helping change the way energy is generated, supplied and used. Its 2,300-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

The Group includes:

Drax Power Ltd, which operates the largest power station in the UK, based at Selby, North Yorkshire and supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs. The energy firm converted from burning coal to become a predominantly biomass-fuelled electricity generator. Drax is the biggest single site renewable generator in the UK and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.

Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Drax Biomass, is based in the US and manufactures compressed wood pellets produced from sustainably managed working forests, supplying fuel 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/uk

THE North is well placed to be the driving force behind new technologies that will power the UK for years to come – and power our economy too.

That’s according to Drax’s Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Clare Harbord, who will give the keynote speech at the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce AGM, today (Wednesday September 26) in Leeds.

“As a responsible, sustainable business Drax takes its role in the Northern Powerhouse very seriously. We’re proud of our Yorkshire roots and we’re a growing British company delivering social, economic and environmental benefits across the country.”

Drax contributes more than £500m a year to the Northern economy, employing around 900 people at the power station near Selby, and supporting a further 6,000 jobs in the wider supply chain across the region.

Having been the UK’s biggest coal-fired power station, Drax has transformed itself to become the country’s biggest renewable power generator, and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe. It has converted two thirds of the power station to use biomass from coal. In the process it has protected jobs and is securing the long term future of the power station.

Clare Harbord explained that there are some major opportunities for the North to be at the heart of innovative new technologies within the energy industry, building on the region’s industrial past and now more recently as a world leader in lower carbon technologies like offshore wind, nuclear and biomass.

“Innovation is a fundamental requirement for the clean growth needed if we are to meet our climate targets – that’s why we’re investing £400,000 in a pioneering bioenergy carbon capture and storage pilot with Leeds University spin out C-Capture, which could enable us to make the power we produce carbon negative.

“If we capitalise on the innovation and expertise we have here, then in the process we can deliver environmental, social and economic benefits for our communities too,” she explained.

“Having a highly skilled, diverse and inclusive workforce is vital to all of this. In the North we already have world-class engineers but we need to do more to invest in the next generation so they have the right education and skills, particularly in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

“Businesses have a key role to play and I’m proud to say Drax is working hard to inspire the next generation of engineers through school visits to the power station as well as apprenticeships – we’ve increased our intake of engineering apprentices at the power station by fifty percent this year.

“We’re also supporting academic research within our Northern Powerhouse universities to keep the region at the forefront of developments and maintain our position as world leaders.

“By working together with education providers, academics, businesses, local and regional government and our communities, we can develop opportunities which allow us to reach the great potential we have here in the North.”

ENDS

Media contacts:

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

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

Editor’s Notes

• Drax announced it is working with C-Capture, a Leeds University spin-out, on the first bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS) project of its kind in Europe, earlier this year. The pilot is due to get underway this autumn and is expected to capture a tonne of carbon dioxide each day. Drax is in discussions with the British Beer and Pub Association to see if the CO2 it captures during the trial could be used by the drinks industry.
• The company converted its fourth generating unit from coal to biomass this summer, enabling it to produce more renewable power at the times the grid needs it the most.
• Drax is pushing ahead with plans to repower its remaining coal units to gas and develop large-scale battery storage. It’s application for a Development Consent Order has been accepted for examination by the Planning Inspectorate with a decision expected from the Secretary of State for BEIS next year.
• The government has said it wants there to be no more coal used to generate power in the UK from October 2025. If Drax’s gas plans are approved, it could stop using coal well ahead of the government’s deadline.
• Drax welcomed 13,000 visitors to the power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, in 2017
• Its new apprentices began work at the power station last month.
• Drax is sponsoring PhDs at Sheffield University, researching a range of areas including the impact of human behaviour on vehicle to grid technologies for electric vehicles.

About Drax

Drax Group plc plays a vital role in helping change the way energy is generated, supplied and used. Its 2,300-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

The Group includes:

Drax Power Ltd, which operates the largest power station in the UK, based at Selby, North Yorkshire and supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs. The energy firm converted from burning coal to become a predominantly biomass-fuelled electricity generator. Drax is the biggest single site renewable generator in the UK and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.

Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Drax Biomass, is based in the US and manufactures compressed wood pellets produced from sustainably managed working forests, supplying fuel 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/uk