Tag: biomass energy

The people-powered renewables revolution

24 August 2017

Sustainable business

For decades the electricity system was relatively straightforward. Power was generated by utility companies, then sold and supplied to consumers and businesses. But this is changing and the power industry may be on the verge of a revolution.

The falling costs and ongoing innovation around technologies like rooftop solar panels and domestic battery storage is enabling the rise of so-called ‘prosumers’ – individuals, businesses or institutions who not only consume electricity, but produce it too.

According to the National Grid’s 2017 Future Energy Scenarios report, this could lead to an almost entirely decentralised, cleaner energy system.

But for this to happen, prosumerism needs to be adopted at scale, and this relies on technological innovation and changes to attitudes and behaviours.

The technology powering prosumers

The biggest barrier to large-scale adoption of prosumerism is technology. Although research and innovation pounds, dollars and euros have been pouring into the technologies that make decentralised power generation possible, there are still developments to be made.

Solar is one of the most prominently used renewables by prosumers thanks to the relative affordability of rooftop solar systems. Even home-interior giant IKEA now offers solar panels and battery systems through a partnership with the UK’s largest solar company, Solarcentury.

But like wind turbines (a more cost-prohibitive solution) solar is an intermittent energy source, which means domestic users may still need to access the grid to fill gaps in their own generation. That is, unless battery technology advances to a point where it can store enough solar- or wind-generated electricity to fully power homes and businesses affordably – all-year round, including in the dark, still days of midwinter.

Until then, a prosumer who wants to have a reliable, flexible self-supply of energy needs to be able to call on a mix of renewable technologies – just as the national system does. Hamerton Zoo in Cambridgeshire, for example, generates its own energy via a mix of solar, wind and biomass. It then sells its excess electricity to an energy supplier.

There are signs that battery technology is starting to take off as an option for powering homes and businesses. Tesla’s Powerwall is currently the closest home battery system to breaking through to mainstream consumers and many firms are following its lead. For example, in the UK, Elon Musk’s company faces new competition from Nissan, which is partnering with US power firm Eaton to build and sell home batteries in the UK. That two electric car manufacturers are in on the act is no surprise – it will be another revolution, that of electric vehicles (EVs) usurping the dominance of petrol and diesel models that is set to bring the boon that batteries need to become a popular choice for prosumers.

The government is also pushing innovation in the space with business and energy secretary Greg Clark announcing plans to invest £264 million into research in the sector over the next four years.

Energy ownership

But what could this mean for the business of electricity? The National Grid report suggests multiple ‘commercial models’ will operate together to facilitate a decentralised, prosumer-based energy system.

These would include homes and businesses who wholly own their energy systems, as well as systems owned and operated by third parties such as aggregators managing energy or solar-rental schemes.

Community-owned projects could also play a role, with small renewable energy facilities supplying residents, such as the wind turbine in the Cambridgeshire village of Gamlingay. Excess energy could also be sold back to the grid with any money earned reinvested in the community, or in its renewable infrastructure.

Similar schemes are already in place in both the business and consumer retail markets. In 2016, for example, Opus Energy – a Drax Group company supplying energy to UK businesses – bought almost 1 TWh of power from over 2,000 small renewable generators who use technologies such as anaerobic digestion, solar, onshore wind and hydro. Opus Energy then sells that power onto its predominantly small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customer base. This allows it to offer innovative tariffs such as the 100% solar power deal enjoyed by restaurant chain LEON this summer.

Haven Power, the Drax retail business specialising in electricity supply for large corporate and industrial clients, sells on power from over 20 small renewable generators – and it has a number of large clients such as water utilities who self-generate a lot of their own power and work with Haven Power to help manage their self-supply against their demand from regional electricity distribution networks (and further upstream, National Grid and power stations).

For large power generators, an increase in prosumerism in the energy sector could mean likely overall demand may decrease, which would mean a scaling back of operations. However, the increased volatility of the grid will give rise to the need for flexibility and for additional ancillary services like frequency response, which ensures the country’s electricity is all operating at the same frequency.

This would most likely be delivered by flexible generators (such as gas and biomass), which would also be required for winter demand, when more electricity is required and there is less wind and solar generation.

The role of government incentives

Another key part of the rise of consumer generated power will be government regulation and incentive schemes. In the UK, new measures have been put in place to encourage individuals to generate their own electricity.

These intend to make it easier for prosumers to generate their own power through solar, store it in batteries and sell it back to the National Grid, something which regulator Ofgem claims could save consumers between £17 billion and £40 billion by 2050. This isn’t the only scheme of its kind currently in action.

The UK’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) encourages homeowners and businesses to adopt low-carbon heating, offering to pay a certain amount for every kWh of renewable heat generated. Feed-in tariffs, on the other hand, also offer financial incentives, with electricity suppliers paying prosumers for the energy they produce themselves.

Is my home or business big enough?

The prosumer revolution will not happen overnight. Self-generation and self-storage of power and the installation of renewable heat systems are more suited to larger properties or those linked up to community-based projects, so for many people living in properties they own, rent or in social housing the idea of becoming a prosumer could right now be a little far-fetched.

And although there is evidence that the national transmission grid is already decentralising, nor will this revolution mean the complete eradication of all centralised utilities.

Through gradual improvements in small-scale energy generation, power storage, smart technology and government policies, it will become an increasingly affordable and efficient way for communities, businesses and institutions to go green.

The science behind keeping soil healthy

27 July 2017

Sustainable bioenergy

Read here

This is how you unload a wood chip truck

30 June 2017

Sustainable bioenergy

A truck arrives at an industrial facility deep in the expanding forestland of the south-eastern USA. It passes through a set of gates, over a massive scale, then onto a metal platform.

The driver steps out and pushes a button on a nearby console. Slowly, the platform beneath the truck tilts and rises. As it does, the truck’s cargo empties into a large container behind it. Two minutes later it’s empty.

This is how you unload a wood fuel truck at Drax Biomass’ compressed wood pellet plants in Louisiana and Mississippi.

What is a tipper?

“Some people call them truck dumpers, but it depends on who you talk to,” says Jim Stemple, Senior Director of Procurement at Drax Biomass. “We just call it the tipper.” Regardless of what it’s called, what the tipper does is easy to explain: it lifts trucks and uses the power of gravity to empty them quickly and efficiently.

The sight of a truck being lifted into the air might be a rare one across the Atlantic, however at industrial facilities in the United States it’s more common. “Tippers are used to unload trucks carrying cargo such as corn, grain, and gravel,” Stemple explains. “Basically anything that can be unloaded just by tipping.”

Both of Drax Biomass’ two operational pellet facilities (a third is currently idle while being upgraded) use tippers to unload the daily deliveries of bark – known in the forestry industry as hog fuel, which is used to heat the plants’ wood chip dryers – sawdust and raw wood chips, which are used to make the compressed wood pellets.

How does it work?

The tipper uses hydraulic pistons to lift the truck platform at one end while the truck itself rests against a reinforced barrier at the other. To ensure safety, each vehicle must be reinforced at the very end (where the load is emptying from) so they can hold the weight of the truck above it as it tips.

Each tipper can lift up to 60 tonnes and can accommodate vehicles over 50 feet long. Once tipped far enough (each platform tips to a roughly 60-degree angle), the renewable fuel begins to unload and a diverter guides it to one of two places depending on what it will be used for.

“One way takes it to the chip and sawdust piles – which then goes through the pelleting process of the hammer mills, the dryer and the pellet mill,” says Stemple. “The other way takes it to the fuel pile, which goes to the furnace.”

The furnace heats the dryer which ensures wood chips have a moisture level between 11.5% and 12% before they go through the pelleting process.

“If everything goes right you can tip four to five trucks an hour,” says Stemple. From full and tipping to empty and exiting takes only a few minutes before the trucks are on the road to pick up another load.

Efficiency benefits

Using the power of gravity to unload a truck might seem a rudimentary approach, but it’s also an efficient one. Firstly, there’s the speed it allows. Multiple trucks can arrive and unload every hour. And because cargo is delivered straight into the system, there’s no time lost between unloading the wood from truck to container to system.

Secondly, for the truck owners, the benefits are they don’t need to carry out costly hydraulic maintenance on their trucks. Instead, it’s just the tipper – one piece of equipment – which is maintained to keep operations on track.

However, there is one thing drivers need to be wary of: what they leave in their driver cabins. Open coffee cups, food containers – anything not firmly secured – all quickly become potential hazards once the tipper comes into play.

“I guess leaving something like that in the cab only happens once,” Stemple says. “The first time a trucker has to clean out a mess from his cab is probably the last time.”

How many homes can we power with renewables?

25 May 2017

Power generation

Terraced houses at night time on portland dorset

More of Britain’s electricity is coming from renewables than ever before. New offshore wind farms, solar capacity hitting double figures and the reliability of biomass are having a marked effect on the country’s power.

Our electricity make up is more diverse than ever. More than this, it is cleaner. During the first three months of 2017, emissions from power generation were 10% lower than the same period last year and 33% lower than the first quarter of 2015.

And while this is a huge and necessary step in the UK’s efforts towards slowing global warming, it would mean little if renewables weren’t also keeping our lights on. That’s exactly what they are doing – powering businesses, industries and homes across the country. But how many, exactly?

The scale of renewables

In 2015 the total electricity consumption of the UK was 303 TWh. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly enough power to boil 121.1 billion kettles. A quarter of the 360 TWh of electricity generated that year came from renewables – 84 TWh – a massive 29% increase over 2014. Of that figure, Drax’s biomass units contributed 11.5 TWh, approximately 3% of that year’s total power generation.

So, renewables are big, but how big?

According to the 2011 Census there are 26.4 million households in the UK. Ofgem, the energy regulator, says the average UK household uses roughly 3.1 MWh of electricity a year (the average US household uses approximately 10.8 MWh).

If we were to hypothesise that all the renewable power generated in 2015 had been consumed by UK households, there would be enough to power every single one. And there’d be enough left over to power 600,000 more.

Using just the power generated thanks to sustainably sourced compressed wood pellets at Drax Power Station would be enough to satisfy the equivalent of 4.1 million homes – nearly twice the number of households in Scotland or 800,000 more homes than in the whole of London. 15% of all UK homes could have been powered by just half that one station in Selby, North Yorkshire.

Finding the right mix for the future

Electricity is used to power more than just homes. It powers businesses, transport and infrastructure – almost all parts of our lives are fuelled by electricity. While there may be the hypothetical equivalent to power every single household in the UK with renewables (with room to spare), the reality is there is a far larger nationwide demand that needs to be fulfilled. And this means we can’t rely on renewables alone. Instead, what’s required is an energy mix that also includes other low carbon sources of electricity – backed up by a new fleet of gas power stations and storage that can respond rapidly to changes in demand.

While we’re not yet in a position where we can power all homes all the time using renewables, that day could well be coming. A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IREA) suggests a mix of renewable technologies including biomass and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) could meet the majority of global energy demand across all sectors of the world economy by 2050 – while helping to keep the rise in global temperatures to under two degrees celsius above 1990 levels.

Everything you ever wanted to know about cooling towers

17 May 2017

Power generation

Cooling towers aren’t beautiful buildings in the traditional sense, but it’s undeniable they are icons of 20^th century architecture. They’re a ubiquitous part of our landscape – each one a reminder of our industrial heritage.

Yet despite the familiarity we have with them, knowledge about what a cooling tower actually does remains limited. A common misconception is that they release pollution. In fact, what they actually release is water vapour – similar to, but nowhere near as hot, as the steam coming out of your kettle every morning. And this probably isn’t the only thing you never knew about cooling towers.

What does a cooling tower do?

As the name suggests, a cooling tower’s primary function is to lower temperatures – specifically of water, or ‘cooling water’ as it’s known at Drax.

Power stations utilise a substantial amount of water in the generation of electricity. At a thermal power plant, such as Drax, fuel is used to heat demineralised water to turn it to high pressure steam. This steam is used to spin turbines and generate electricity before being cooled by the cooling water, which flows through two condensers on either side of each of the steam turbines, and then returning to the boiler. It is this process that the cooling towers support – and it plays a pivotal role in the efficiency of electricity generation at Drax’s North Yorkshire site.

To optimise water utilisation, some power stations cycle it. To do this, they have cooling towers, of which at Drax there are 12. These large towers recover the warmed water, which then continues to be circulated where chemistry is permitting.

The warmed water (about 40°C) is pumped into the tower and sprayed out of a set of sprinklers onto a large volume of plastic packing, where it is cooled by the air naturally drawn through the tower. The plastic packing provides a large surface area to help cool the water, which then falls in to the large flat area at the bottom of the massive structure called the cooling tower pond.

As the water cools down, some of it (approximately 2%) escapes the top of the tower as water vapour. This water vapour, which is commonly mistakenly referred to as steam, may be the most visible part of the process but it’s only a by-product of the cooling process.

The majority of the water utilised by Drax Power Station is returned back to the environment, either as vapour from the top of the towers or safely discharged back to the River Ouse. Each year, about half of the water removed from the river is returned there. In effect, it is a huge amount of water recycling and in environmental terms, it is not a consumptive process.

How do you build a cooling tower?

The history of cooling towers as we know them today dates back to the beginning of the 20^th century, when two Dutch engineers were the first to build a tower using a ‘hyperboloid’ shape. Very wide on the bottom, curved in the centre and flared at the top, the structure meant fewer materials were required to construct each tower, it was naturally more robust, and it helped draw in air and aid its flow upwards. It quickly became the de facto design for towers across the world.

The Dutch engineers’ tower measured 34 metres, which at the time was a substantial achievement, but as engineering and construction abilities progressed, so too did the size of cooling towers.

Today, each of 12 towers measures 115 metres tall – big enough to fit the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral or the whole of the Statue of Liberty, with room to spare. If scaled down to the size of an egg, the concrete of each cooling tower would be the same thinness as egg shell.

The structures at Drax are dwarfed by the cooling towers at the Kalisindh power plant in Rajasthan, India, the tallest in the world. Each stands an impressive 202 metres tall – twice the height of the tower housing Big Ben and just a touch taller than the UK’s joint fifth tallest skyscraper, the HSBC Tower at 8 Canada Square in London’s Canary Wharf.

The industrial icon of the future

Today’s energy mix is not what is used to be. The increased use of renewables means we’re no longer as reliant on fossil fuels, and this has an effect on cooling towers. Already a large proportion of the UK’s most prominent towers have been demolished, going the same way as the coal they were once in service to. But this doesn’t mean cooling towers will disappear completely.

Power stations such as Drax, which has upgraded four of its boilers to super-heat water with sustainably-sourced compressed wood pellets instead of coal, the dwindling coal fleet, and some gas facilities still rely on cooling towers. As they continue to be part of our energy mix, the cooling tower will remain an icon of electricity generation for the time being. But it’ll be a mantle it shares with biomass domes, gigantic offshore wind turbines and field-upon-field of solar panels – the icons of today’s diverse energy mix.

View our water cooling towers close up. Drax Power Station is open for individual and group visits. See the Visit Us section for further information.

Why you shouldn’t be surprised by another record-breaking quarter for renewable energy

11 May 2017

Power generation

It’s been another record-breaking quarter for Britain’s power system. During the first three months of 2017, biomass, wind and hydro all registered their highest energy production ever, while solar recorded its highest ever peak output.

And while this is all worth celebrating, it shouldn’t come as a surprise – the last few years have seen Britain’s power system take several significant steps toward decarbonisation and this year is no different. Electric Insights, the quarterly report on Britain’s power system by Dr Iain Staffell from Imperial College London, commissioned by Drax via Imperial Consultants, documents the new gains and confirms the trend: renewables are fast becoming the new norm and in 2017 they continued their growth.

The renewable record breakers

Over this quarter biomass electricity generation hit a record production figure of 4.4 TWh, which means that biomass generators ran at 95% of full capacity – higher than any other technology has achieved over the last decade.

Hydro went 4% better than its previous energy production best by generating 1.6 TWh, while Britain’s wind farms produced 11.3 TWh (10% higher than the previous record, set in 2015). This was helped in part by several new farms being built which increased installed capacity by 5% over last year, but it was also indebted to the mild, windy weather.

Wind farms produced more electricity than coal, 57 days out of 90 during the first three months of 2017

Solar hit a new record peak output at the end of March, when it generated 7.67 GW – enough to power a fifth of the country. In fact, during the last weekend of March, for the first time ever, the country’s demand for electricity from the national grid was lower during an afternoon than during the night. This was because solar panels, which only generate power when the sun is up, tend to sit outside of the national high voltage transmission grid.

Understanding how this happened is to understand how solar energy is changing our national power system.

A reverse of the trend

Electricity demand on the national grid – think of it as the power system’s motorways – is typically higher during the day and early evening (when people are most active, using lights and gadgets) than overnight. However, on the last weekend in March 2017, the opposite was true because of how much solar energy was generated.

Solar panels and some smaller onshore windfarms are ‘invisible’ – they don’t feed into the national grid. Instead, these sources either feed into the regional electricity distribution networks – the power system’s A and B roads – or, as many of them are on people’s roofs and used in their own homes or business premises, it never gets down their driveway. This can mean when solar panels are generating a lot of electricity, there is a lower demand for power from the grid, making it appear that less of the country is using electricity than it actually is.

This was the case during the last weekend of March, when solar generated enough power to satisfy a large part of Britain’s demand. And while this is another positive step towards a lower carbon energy mix, it is about to change the way our power system works, particularly when it comes to the remaining coal power stations.

What the power system needs to provide, today and in the future, is flexibility – to ramp up and down to accommodate for the shifting demand based on supply of intermittent – weather dependent – renewables. Thermal power stations such as gas, coal and biomass can meet much of this demand, but even more rapid response from technologies such as the Open Cycle Gas Turbines that Drax is developing and batteries could fulfil these needs quicker.

Today’s dirty is yesterday’s clean

The record breaking and increased renewable generation of the period from January to March 2017 would mean nothing if it wasn’t matched by a decrease in emissions. During the first three months of 2017, emissions dropped 10% lower than the same period in 2016 and a massive 33% lower than 2015. Coal output alone fell 30% this quarter compared to Q1 2016.

To put the scale of this progress into context we need only look at the quarter’s ‘dirtiest hour’ – the hour in which carbon intensity from electricity generation is at its highest. Between January and March, it peaked on a calm and cold January evening with 424 grams of CO₂ released per kWh (g/kWh). The average for generation between 2009 and 2013 was 471 g/kWh. In short, this quarter’s dirtiest hour was cleaner than the average figure just four years ago – yesterday’s average is today’s extremity.

If we want to continue to break records and further progress towards a fully decarbonised power system, this needs to be a consistent aim: making the averages of today tomorrow’s extremes.

Top line stats

Highest energy production ever

Wind – 11.3 TWh
Biomass – 4.4 TWh
Hydro – 1.6 TWh

Record peak output

Solar – 7.67 GW
Enough to power 1/5 of the country

Yesterday’s average is today’s extremity

Average carbon emissions per kWh – 2009-2013
- 471 g/kWh
Average carbon emissions per kWh – Q1 2017
- 284 g/kWh
Peak carbon emissions per kWh – 2009-2013
- 704 g/kWh
Peak carbon emissions per kWh – Q1 2017
- 424 g/kWh

Explore the data in detail by visiting ElectricInsights.co.uk

Commissioned by Drax, Electric Insights is produced independently by a team of academics from Imperial College London, led by Dr Iain Staffell and facilitated by the College’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants.

Sustainability, certified

24 March 2017

Sustainable bioenergy

Of all the changes to Drax Power Station over the last decade, perhaps the biggest is one you can’t see. Since converting three of its six generating units from coal to run primarily on compressed wood pellets, Drax has reduced those units’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by over 80%.

And while this is a huge improvement, it would mean nothing if the biomass with which those reductions are achieved isn’t sustainably sourced.

For this reason, Drax works with internationally-recognised certification programmes that ensure suppliers manage their forests according to environmental, social and economic criteria.

Thanks to these certification programmes, Drax can be confident it is not only reducing GHG emissions, but supporting responsible forestry from wherever wood fibre is sourced.

Sustainability certifications

The compressed wood pellets used at Drax Power Station come from various locations around the world, so Drax relies on a number of different forest certification programmes, the three main ones being the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^®)¹ and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).

The programmes share a common goal of demonstrating responsible forest management, but adoption rates vary by region. European landowners and regulators are most familiar with the FSC and national PEFC standards, while North American landowners generally prefer SFI and American Tree Farm System (also members of the PEFC family). In instances in which Drax sources wood pellets carrying these certifications, or in instances in which Drax purchase pellets sourced from certified forests, these certifications offer an additional degree of assurance that the pellets are sustainable.

Over 50% of the pellets used at Drax Power Station come from the southern USA, where SFI and American Tree Farm System are the most widely implemented certification programmes. Overall adoption levels in this region are relatively modest. However, the SFI offers an additional level of certification that can be implemented by wood-procuring entities, such as sawmills, pulp mills and pellet mills.

This programme is referred to as SFI Fiber Sourcing, and to obtain it, participants must demonstrate that the raw material in their supply chains come from legal and responsible sources. These sources may or may not include certified forests. The programme also includes requirements related to biodiversity, water quality, landowner outreach and use of forest management and harvesting professionals. Together, these certification systems have long contributed to the improvement of forest management practices in a region that provides Drax with a significant proportion of its pellets.

And since the SFI and ATFS programmes are endorsed by PEFC, North American suppliers have a pathway for their region’s sustainable forest management practices to be recognised by European stakeholders.

These certification programmes have been in use for many years. But with recent growth in the market for wood pellets, a new certification system has emerged to deal specifically with woody biomass.

New kid on the block

The Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP) was set up in 2013 as a certification system to provide assurance that woody biomass is sourced from legal and sustainable sources. But rather than replacing any previous forest certification programmes, it builds on them.

For example, SBP recognises the evidence of sustainable forest management practices gathered under these other programmes. However, the PEFC, SFI and FSC programmes do not include requirements for reporting GHG emissions, a critical gap for biomass generators as they are obligated to report these emissions to European regulators. SBP fills this gap by creating a framework for suppliers to report their emissions to the generators that purchase their pellets.

When a new entity, such as a wood pellet manufacturer, first seeks certification under SBP, that entity is required to assess its supply base.

Feedstock which has already been certified by another established certification programme (SFI, FSC^®, PEFC or PEFC approved schemes) is considered SBP-compliant.

All other feedstock must be evaluated against SBP criteria, and the wood pellet manufacturer must carry out a risk assessment to identify the risk of compliance against each of the 38 SBP indicators.

If during the process a specific risk is identified, for example to the forest ecosystem, the wood pellet manufacturer must put in place mitigation measures to manage the risk, such that it can be considered to be effectively controlled or excluded.

These assessments are audited by independent, third party certification bodies and scrutinised by an independent technical committee.

In conducting the risk assessment, the wood pellet manufacturer must consult with a range of stakeholders and provide a public summary of the assessment for transparency purposes.

Sustainable energy for the UK

Counting major energy companies including DONG Energy, E.ON and Drax as members, the SBP has quickly become an authoritative voice in the industry. At the end of 2016, the SBP had 74 certificate holders across 14 countries – including Drax’s pellet manufacturing arm, Drax Biomass, in Mississippi and Louisiana.

It’s a positive step towards providing the right level of certification for woody biomass, and together with the existing forestry certifications it provides Drax with the assurance that it is powering the UK using biomass from legal and sustainable sources.

Like the fast-reducing carbon dioxide emissions of Britain’s power generation sector, it’s a change you can’t see, but one that is making a big difference.

Read the Drax principles for sustainable sourcing.

¹ Drax Power Ltd FSC License Code: FSC® – C119787

More power per pound

23 March 2017

Sustainable bioenergy

As the country moves towards a lower carbon future, each renewable power generation technology has its place. Wind, solar, hydro and wave can take advantage of the weather to provide plentiful power – when conditions are right.

Reliable, affordable, renewable power

But people need electricity instantly – not just when it’s a windy night or a sunny day. So, until a time when storage can provide enough affordable capacity to store and supply the grid with power from ample solar and wind farms, the country has to rely, in part, on thermal generation like gas, coal and biomass. Reliable and available on demand, yes. But renewable, low carbon and affordable too? It can be.

A year ago, a report by economic consultancy NERA and researchers at Imperial College London highlighted how a balanced mix of renewable technologies could save bill payers more than £2bn. Now, publicly available Ofgem data on which its newly published Renewables Obligation Annual Report 2015-16 is based reinforces the case for government to continue to support coal-to-biomass unit conversions within that technology mix. Why? Because out of all renewables deployed at large scale, biomass presents the most value for money – less public funding is required for more power produced.

Renewable costs compared

Drax Power Station’s biomass upgrades were the largest recipient of Renewable Obligation (RO) support during the period 2015-16. The transformation from coal to compressed wood pellets has made Drax the largest generator of renewable electricity in the country. And by a significant margin. Drax Power Station produced more than five times the renewable power than the next biggest project supported under the RO – the London Array.

Dr Iain Staffell, lecturer in Sustainable Energy at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, and author of Electric Insights, who has analysed the Ofgem data commented:

“Based on Ofgem’s Renewables Obligation database, the average support that Drax Power Station received was £43.05 per MWh generated. This compares to £88.70 per MWh from the other nine largest projects.”

“Biomass receives half the support of the UK’s other large renewable projects, which are all offshore wind. The average support received across all renewable generators in the RO scheme – which includes much smaller projects and all types of technology – is £58 per MWh. That is around £15 per MWh more than the support received by Drax.”

Ending the age of coal

Drax Group isn’t arguing for limitless support for coal-to-biomass conversions. And Drax Power Station, being the biggest, most modern and efficient of power stations built in the age of coal, is a special case. But if the RO did exist just to support lots of biomass conversions like Drax but no other renewable technologies, then in just one year, between 2015-16, £1bn of costs saving could have been made for the public purse.

Drax Power Station may be the biggest-single site recipient of support under the RO – but it does supply more low carbon power into the National Grid than any other company supported by Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs). In fact, 65% of the electricity generated at its Selby, North Yorkshire site, is now renewable. That’s 16% of the entire country’s renewable power – enough to power four million households.

Thanks to the support provided to Drax by previous governments, the current administration has a comparatively cost effective way to help the power sector move towards a lower carbon future. Biomass electricity generated at Drax Power Station has a carbon footprint that is at least 80% less than coal power – supply chain included. Drax Group stands ready to do more – which is why research and development continues apace at the power plant. R&D that the company hopes will result in ever more affordable ways to upgrade its remaining three coal units to sustainably-sourced biomass, before coal’s 2025 deadline.

Commissioned by Drax, Electric Insights is produced independently by a team of academics from Imperial College London, led by Dr Iain Staffell and facilitated by the College’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants.

Chief Executive comments on full year results

Dorothy Thompson, (2005-2017 Chief Executive, Drax Group)

16 February 2017

Investors

We are playing a vital role in helping change the way energy is generated, supplied and used as the UK moves to a low carbon future.

With the right conditions, we can do even more, converting further units to run on compressed wood pellets. This is the fastest and most reliable way to support the UK’s decarbonisation targets, whilst minimising the cost to households and businesses.

In a challenging commodity environment Drax has delivered a good operational performance with 65% renewable power generation.

The acquisition of Opus Energy and rapid response open cycle gas turbine projects are an important step in delivering our strategy, diversifying our earnings base and contributing to stronger, long-term financial performance across the markets in which we operate.

Tag: biomass energy