Drax Converting Fourth Coal-Fired Unit to Biomass

GALWAY, IRELAND--June 20, 2018--Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Drax Group plc (LSE:DRX) (Selby, England), operator of the U.K.'s largest operational coal-fired plant, has taken a fourth unit offline in preparation to convert it to burn sustainable biomass.

Three units at the six-unit plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, have already been converted and, with the conversion of Unit 4, two-thirds of the power station's capacity will produce renewable power. The ongoing conversions have made the Drax plant Europe's largest decarbonisation project. Drax has spent roughly £700 million ($940 million) to date on upgrading half the power station and associated supply chain infrastructure to use sustainable biomass instead of coal. The cost of Unit 4's conversion is significantly below the level of previous conversions, at around £30 million ($40 million), Drax confirmed. It will be completed over the summer and return to service in the second half of 2018.

The company's engineers will reuse some redundant infrastructure during the upgrade left from when the company was first co-firing biomass with coal on a large scale, around eight years ago. A trial carried out last year confirmed that by modifying the old co-firing delivery system, compressed wood pellets can be delivered in the quantities required to fully convert the fourth generating unit.

"Switching the fourth unit from coal to biomass is another milestone in the transformation of the power station," explained Andy Koss, Drax Power's chief executive officer. "It will extend the life of the plant, protecting jobs both here at Drax and in the supply chain, whilst delivering cleaner, reliable power for millions of homes and businesses. The conversion that's underway is testament to the engineering expertise, skill and ingenuity we have at Drax. The team has developed some very innovative solutions for this upgrade, using all the knowledge we've gained throughout the work we have done so far to transform the business using sustainable biomass."

Drax also has plans for the remaining two coal-fired units that it wants to replace with gas-fired power generating units. The closed-cycle gas turbines it is looking to develop could deliver up to 3.6 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, as well as up to 200 megawatts (MW) of battery storage. The plans for the gas project have been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate, which has 28 days to determine if it will accept the application. If accepted, a decision will be made sometime next year.

The U.K. has seen an 84% reduction in coal-fired power generation in the last five years as low-carbon generation has increased. Coal-fired power generated about 40% of the country's electricity in 2012, but by 2016 it had dropped to 9%, and last July it hit an all-time low of just 2%. Industrial Info has reported on the U.K. government's plans to shut all coal-fired power plants within a decade, by 2025. For additional information, see November 23, 2015, article - U.K. Calls Time on Coal-Fired Power.

In related news, Industrial Info reported earlier this month that the Drax plant would be home to Europe's first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at a biomass power plant. It is partnering with C-Capture (Lees, England) in a project that, if successful, could make the renewable electricity produced at the plant "carbon negative." For additional information, see June 5, 2018, article - Drax Backs Europe's First Biomass Carbon Capture Project.

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