Tag: biomass energy

Mind the gap

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

28 July 2016

Opinion

Later today the EDF Board is expected to give the go-ahead for a new nuclear power station at Hinkley. This will provide some long overdue clarity for Britain’s energy sector, but we now need to quickly move on and make the right decisions to secure the best mix of power generation.  The drawn out debate around Hinkley Point C has diverted attention away from the sector’s biggest challenge.

The Government has made it clear that coal must come off the system by 2025.  But coal still provides up to one fifth of the UK’s electricity, and plugging that gap will be far from easy.  Nor will doing so in a way that allows the country to meet its carbon targets while supporting the technologies that will deliver a modern energy system fit for the 21st century. The Government’s intention is absolutely right, but how does it intend to meet its target?

Let’s be clear, a positive Hinkley Point C decision will play an important role in the necessary energy mix but will provide no silver bullet. By most estimates, when finally complete, the nuclear plant will provide seven percent of the UK’s electricity needs.  However, this isn’t expected to come ‘on grid’ much before 2030, and let’s remember that in 2030 all but one of the UK’s current operating nuclear reactors are scheduled to be closed. Hinkley will therefore be replacing only some of the lost nuclear capacity, not providing ‘new’ energy to replace coal.

The last few years have seen a huge and welcome expansion in renewable sources of generation like wind and solar in the UK, but they are intermittent and cannot fill the gap alone. They still need to be supported by a constant supply of electricity that can be flexed up and down when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine – a regular scenario on these shores.

As a form of low-carbon baseload generation, nuclear will undoubtedly be part of the answer. However, as we’ve already seen with Hinkley Point C, planning, funding and building new power stations can be a long and costly process. It has taken over a decade to reach today’s decision. In the past year alone, more than 5 gigawatts (GW) of coal power generation– Hinkley Point C is set to provide 3.2 GW – has come off grid well before the Government’s target of 2025. We don’t have the luxury of time: every day lost adds to the cost of addressing this challenge.

Gas will play a role but many, including the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) have pointed out the huge number of gas-fired power stations we’ll need to plug the gap that ending coal creates. IMechE estimates 30 will be required which is clearly unrealistic, since the UK has built just four in the last 10 years.

At Drax, we have developed a solution to these challenges. We have used state of the art technology to upgrade some of our coal facilities to generate electricity from biomass in place of coal.  These facilities are already providing a reliable and flexible flow of electricity that also helps the UK meet its carbon targets.  The biomass we use is compressed wood pellets which perform in much the same way as coal and deliver an 80% CO2 saving.

Our biomass facilities are already powering three million homes and with the right support we can double this, helping to plug the energy gap that old plant coming off and delays to new build will leave us with.

Using biomass is more cost-effective than other renewables. This was illustrated by a recent study from Imperial College and economic consultancy NERA when they analysed the hidden costs of the back-up needed to meet demand created by intermittent renewables. Our biomass facilities can provide all of the electricity services required to keep the UK electricity system stable. Providing these services is set to become increasingly important in the years ahead as a greater need to back-up and balance the system will be required.

Finding the right mix of power generation will not be easy, but it is important we make every effort to get it right. Like Hinkley Point C, biomass is not a silver bullet, but it can and must play its part in helping the country transform to a low-carbon future.

Sustainable Biomass Program – proving biomass is sustainable

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

14 April 2016

Opinion

I was honoured to be able to accept the Excellence in Bioenergy award recently. Not for myself, but on behalf of all my colleagues at Drax who have worked so hard to make a reality of our shared plan to generate reliable, renewable electricity. Our achievements are truly a team effort.

In 2015, Drax became a predominantly biomass-fuelled power station.

We now generate more electricity at Drax power station from compressed low-grade wood pellets than from coal – between three and four per cent of the UK’s entire demand every day.

It’s a major triumph for all the brilliant engineers involved in converting the plant and everyone who has helped secure the incredibly complex supply chain that keeps it running.

But we truly believe that this is only the beginning for sustainable biomass.

Sustainable biomass is the ideal fuel to help the world decarbonise in an affordable and reliable way. It can support other renewables like wind and solar when the elements are against them and backup power is needed.

Because it can be created by upgrading existing coal-fired power stations, it can be added to the electricity grid in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost of building new power stations. Why should the UK only build brand-new gas and nuclear power stations when existing coal power stations can be upgraded to low carbon, renewable tech? At Drax, we have shown how engineers working at what once was the biggest coal power station in western Europe can use their expertise to work with compressed wood pellet power generation.

And it can save bill payers billions of pounds when the true costs of bringing other renewables on stream are taken into account.

The industry’s greatest challenge right now is in proving that all the biomass we use is truly sustainable.

At Drax we have proven the sustainability of the biomass we use time and time again. But we can and will do more to ensure that standards right across the industry are always equally high.

We cannot underestimate the importance of sustainability. No corners can be cut. We must all join together and meet this challenge. Because without sustainable biomass there will be no industry at all. Without sustainable biomass in a balanced energy system with other renewables and low carbon technologies, the Paris climate change summit commitments may not be reached.

This is why the Sustainable Biomass Program is so important. The SBP has developed a certification framework  to provide assurance that woody biomass is sourced from legal and sustainable sources.

By working with the SBP, all of us in the industry alongside hard working families and businesses stand to benefit. Which is why all of us at Drax welcome its inception, and look forward to working with the SBP to help build a growing and healthy industry that helps our society transition to the renewable fuels of the future.

May 2017 update: the SBP has changed its name to the Sustainable Biomass Program — you can read its first annual report here.

North Yorkshire tops chart for renewable energy

Andy Koss, CEO Generation until April 2020

8 April 2016

Opinion

A new survey from the Green Alliance and Regen SW shows that Selby in North Yorkshire produces the most renewable energy of any area in England and Wales. As you can see, Drax’s home tops the chart by a large margin.

That’s because between three and four per cent of the UK’s electricity is generated from sustainable biomass here at Drax power station.

We’ve already converted half the station to use compressed wood pellets. That half of Drax has reduced its carbon emissions by more than 80 per cent as a result.

But there’s so much more Drax could do to help the UK get more coal off the grid. And if the Green Alliance’s next data visualization pitted renewables against fossil fuels, a renewable-only Drax as our country’s biggest power station would give low carbon technologies an even bigger share than would be the case today.

Drax can not only generate more renewable power ourselves, but also help solar and wind power to cope with demand as some of the older coal, gas and nuclear plant retire over the coming years.

Moving towards a balanced mix of renewables including further biomass upgrades at Drax could save bill payers billions of pounds found research carried out by NERA and Imperial College London.

This was commissioned by Drax to establish the ‘true’ cost of the main forms of renewable energy – wind, solar and biomass.

The UK is already far below the European average when it comes to using wood for energy.

If the government made the right decision and levelled the playing field for biomass in the UK, Drax could help our country climb the table, meet our national climate change targets more quickly and contribute to saving bill payers billions of pounds. Upgrading from coal to wood pellets is also ensuring Drax Group – which employs more than 1,400 people – has a real future at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse.

However it’s not just for government to change the status quo – businesses have a role to play too. Many UK businesses have made firm commitments to limit and reduce their impact on the environment. For all, their use of energy is a critical area to consider and address. Some of the biggest electricity users such as Thames Water and Manchester Airport Group are increasingly demanding renewable electricity. Drax Group’s Haven Power is proud to offer the only 100% guaranteed renewable electricity product in the market to businesses big and small.

Perhaps that’s what the Green Alliance’s next index could investigate – which businesses have taken practical steps towards a renewable future.

Renewables: better together

Andy Koss, CEO Generation until April 2020

5 April 2016

Opinion

There’s more pressure than ever to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation. And no one is keener than the team here at Drax Power Station to make it happen. In fact, we’ve been doing it for a decade. But we need the right support to finish the job.

  • We upgraded our turbines between 2007-12 to save one million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
  • We’ve converted half our station to run on compressed wood pellets instead of coal – reducing emissions by up to 86 per cent.
  • Our friends in the North of England have invested millions of pounds to help us make that happen, through building new infrastructure at our landing and loading facilities at the Port of Tyne, the new port at Liverpool, at Hull and at Immingham.
  • We’ve designed and commissioned our own rolling stock with Lloyds Register Rail to ensure that the compressed wood pellets can be transported to the power station in the most energy-efficient way possible.

And while many jobs in the North of England are being lost with the planned closure of a number of older coal-fired power stations, we continue to employ over a thousand people directly here in North Yorkshire.

In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that Drax is a genuine Northern Powerhouse, to borrow a phrase from the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Which is why we hope he and his colleagues in Government will listen when we say that we’re seriously concerned that the planned auctions for new green energy could result in bill payers missing out on savings of over £2 billion.

The Government has committed to three further renewable energy auctions that will happen over the next few years. The first of them is already planned for later in 2016.

As far as we know, those auctions will only be open to offshore wind and perhaps also something being referred to as ‘less established technologies’.

But independent research published by NERA and Imperial College London suggests that a ‘single technology’ approach could waste a significant amount of money.

The research was commissioned by Drax to establish the ‘true’ cost of the main renewable energy technologies – wind, solar and biomass.

As a result, economists conclude that hard working families and businesses could enjoy significant savings if these auctions were opened up to include other renewables.

But the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow. This makes wind and solar intermittent energy technologies. Backup power is needed when the weather’s not right or when demand is high.

Naturally, this standby energy isn’t free. Someone has to pay for it.

But those additional costs are not currently included in the way that the Government calculates how much support the different kinds of renewable energy require.

And the ICL/NERA research shows that when the true costs are added in, offshore wind is actually the most expensive form of renewable energy.

The affordable solution is to convert existing power stations to use compressed wood pellets in place of coal. This balanced approach also allows more offshore wind and solar onto our electricity network without the need for more fossil fuels to provide overall reliability. More biomass conversions can also help the UK end coal by Energy Secretary Amber Rudd’s 2025 target date.

That’s what we mean when we say Drax needs the right support to finish the job. We’re asking the Government to consider the true cost of bringing new renewable capacity on stream. And then to add sustainable biomass to the auctions for new contracts.

That decision could save bill payers up to £2bn. It could safeguard thousands of direct and indirect jobs in Yorkshire and the North of England. And it will give our country the reliable, renewable power we need when others just can’t deliver it.

The true cost of replacing coal-fired electricity generation

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

17 February 2016

Opinion

To make up for these closures, the Government is already planning to bring on new capacity. A new gas-fired power station will open at Carrington this summer, and we’re expecting to hear any day now that another nuclear power station will be created at Hinkley Point. And of course more electricity from renewables must be added over the years ahead as we look to meet our ‘go green’ targets.

In fact, the Government already has a plan in place to award contracts for new green energy off the back of three auctions over the next four years. The first of them is due later this year.

Drax understands that every one of those auctions is focused on offshore wind.

However, new independent research published by NERA Economic Consulting and Imperial College London questions that ‘single technology’ approach. 

Commissioned by Drax Group plc from leading economists, the research reveals the ‘true’ cost of the main forms of renewable energy – wind, solar and biomass.

And the evidence shows that opening up these auctions to include other renewables could result in significant savings that could be passed on to consumers. 

Where could these savings come from?

Renewables like wind and solar are vital, but they are by their very nature intermittent. That means other forms of power generation need to be available on standby at very short notice to meet the gap between supply and demand.

The costs of providing this standby electricity are passed on to consumers in their energy bills.

But crucially, they are not reflected in how the Government ranks the support that each type of renewable energy requires. Essentially the costs are hidden.

The NERA/ICL research shows that if these ‘hidden costs’ are added in, the true picture is very different.

When the true costs are taken into account, the Government’s preferred option – offshore wind – turns out to be the most expensive. In fact, the cheapest option is deploying new technology to existing power stations, enabling them to use biomass – essentially replacing coal with compressed wood pellets.

All in all, getting cheaper renewables into the mix could save consumers up to £2.2bn. How? Support for renewables is already funded through a portion of your energy bill, and bringing in a more cost-effective mix reduces the support needed.

That is why we at Drax are urging the Government to look at the true costs of new renewable capacity and include us in the mix for new power contracts.

To do so would not only lead to a potential £2bn saving for consumers, but replacing more coal with biomass gives the UK that reliable standby power we know we will need when other renewables can’t deliver it.

Using the latest technology we’ve already upgraded half of our Power Station to run on compressed wood pellets. The job’s not done. With the right support we want to carry on with the work we’re doing and help the Government to achieve its target of getting coal off the system by 2025.

How to plug the electricity gap

Andy Koss, CEO Generation until April 2020

26 January 2016

Opinion

By 2025, the UK will face a 40-55 per cent gap between electricity supply and demand, according to a report from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. The government has disputed IMechE’s projection but its own forecasting suggests that UK electricity demand will be 19% higher in 2035 vs. 2015.

The alleged 2025 gap will be caused by the closure of coal-fired power stations to meet targets for carbon reduction. According to the IMechE, current plans to plug the gap by building new gas-fired capacity are unrealistic. (It would require a staggering 30 new power stations to be planned and built from scratch within the next 10 years.)

At Drax, we have already developed a solution. We can do it quickly, cheaply and safely. In fact, it would drastically reduce the time and money involved in building all of those 30 new gas power stations from scratch.

We’ve already adapted three of our coal-fired generating units to use high-density pellets made from compressed low-grade wood. And we’re using world-beating technology developed by our own engineers here in the UK to do it.

In all, around four or five per cent of the UK’s entire electricity needs every single day of the year are already being met thanks to our unique biomass technology at Drax. It’s an approach that could be adopted elsewhere in the country, providing a huge contribution to plugging the electricity gap.

Our high-density compressed wood pellets are the only non-fossil fuel that can bring about these changes in the time we have left.

Given the right support, within two or three years, we could convert the remaining three units at Drax power station to run on biomass wood pellets.

With all six units converted, plus Lynemouth power station – which already has that future secured – and one or two other, smaller biomass power stations, around 10 per cent of the UK’s electricity could be generated using this technology well before 2025 – long before new gas-fired capacity could come on stream.

The costs involved would be dramatically lower too. We invested around £650 million to convert three generating units, develop a supply chain and build new storage at Drax. It is estimated that the equivalent in new combined cycle gas turbine power stations would cost more as it would be new rather than repurposed infrastructure.

Energy hierarchy

The IMechE has developed an energy hierarchy, listing five sustainability-related priorities against which to judge any future energy strategy. The two that focus on energy generation are a perfect fit in terms of coal-to-biomass conversions at Drax and Lynemouth.

“Priority 3 – utilisation of renewable, sustainable resources”

High density compressed wood pellets are made from low-grade wood sourced according to the highest levels of forestry conservation.

“Priority 5 – utilisation of conventional resources as we do now”

Using world-leading engineering skills and avoiding the need to build brand new power stations, our coal units can be converted without the need for new National Grid connections.

Many of our European neighbours such as Sweden and Germany already use a far higher proportion of biomass to meet their energy needs. Catching up with the European average is the simplest, quickest and most affordable way to avoid a shortfall between supply and demand predicted by 2015.

Rethinking the UK’s future energy mix

Andy Koss, CEO Generation until April 2020

13 January 2016

Opinion

Since the Climate Change Summit in Paris, there’s been a lot of talk about how we can remove coal from the energy mix in the UK and limit further climate change.

One way would be to close down all the coal-fired power stations. But coal still provides more than 20 per cent of the UK’s electricity. And the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) predicts we will need almost 20% more electricity by 2035, not less (chart, below). What’s more, building new capacity to replace those power stations would take years, while buying in extra supplies of energy at short notice can mean extra costs being passed on to customers.

The good news is that at Drax, we’ve already developed a solution to the challenge, as I told the Yorkshire Post recently.

We’re doing it by converting our coal-fired generating units to use compressed wood pellets. And we’re using world-beating technology developed by our own engineers here in the UK.

In fact, we’re now producing more electricity from wood pellets than from coal at Drax. And we’re doing it day in day out. In all, around four per cent of the UK’s entire electricity needs every single day of the year are now being met thanks to our unique biomass technology at Drax.

This enables us to take low-grade wood and compress it into small high-density pellets to use in our specially adapted generating units. Even including a minimal quantity of carbon emissions in the supply chain, conversions still cut greenhouse gases by over 80% compared to coal.

If we can get the support to convert the other three generating units at the power station then we’ll cease using coal at Drax. This would help the government’s proposed target date of ending unabated coal electricity generation in the UK by 2025.

I think at a very high level that support is there.

We all know that wind and solar energy have the potential to take a bigger role in Britain’s energy mix. But, to do so, they need to be accompanied by another technology that can be turned up to fill gaps when the weather means they produce less energy than required.

Our high-density wood pellets are the only non-fossil fuel that can do this. Looking to the future, as wind and solar grow and Britain becomes more dependent on them, it will be ever more important to have this reliable, renewable support on hand.

We’re well behind our European neighbours in using wood pellets for energy, and a long way behind countries like Germany and Sweden. Taking steps to catch up with the European average is the fastest, most affordable and most reliable way to move away from coal to the renewable fuels of the future. To take those steps, energy companies like Drax and the Government need more dialogue.