U.S. Fuels U.K. Biomass Electricity Drive

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - The U.S. is fuelling the U.K.'s drive towards increased biomass-based electricity projects.

Last year saw the U.S. retain its number one spot over Canada as the leading global exporter of wood pellets, with almost three-quarters of all U.S. wood pellet exports delivered to the U.K. Most of those were used for utility-scale electricity generation at dedicated biomass power plants or at large co-firing conversion projects at coal-fired power stations like Drax, in Selby, in the north of England.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirmed that U.S. wood pellet exports increased by nearly 40% between 2013 and 2014, from 3.2 million short tons to 4.4 million short tons.

"Canada, formerly the global leader in wood pellet exports, fell behind U.S. exports in 2012," the EIA stated. "According to the U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. wood pellet exports accounted for more than $500 million of trade in 2014. Wood pellets can be used for heating homes and businesses and as fuel for small-scale industrial boilers, but in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the Netherlands, wood pellets are used predominantly for utility-scale electricity generation."

Europe's push towards more biomass use comes as part of the European Commission's 2020 climate and energy plan, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and increase the role played by renewables in the total energy mix. The U.K. is relying on biomass -- especially from co-firing projects -- to help reach its goal of producing 15% of energy demand from renewable sources by 2020.

According to figures from the U.K.'s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), electricity generation from plant-based biomass (which includes wood pellets) increased 47% from 8,933 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2013 to 13,138 GWh in 2014, driven by ongoing conversion of the Drax power plant.

Last year, the Drax plant's wood pellet supply alone accounted for more than 80% of all of the United Kingdom's wood pellet imports from the U.S. and almost 60% of all U.S. wood pellet exports to all countries. While the U.S. supplied 58% of the Drax plant's needs, Canada supplied another 22%. Less than 3% of its supply was met by domestic wood pellets.

Drax is the U.K.'s largest power plant, with six units supplying almost 4,000-megawatts of electricity. Traditionally burning up to 10 million tonnes of coal a year, it was also the largest CO2 emitter in the U.K. Plant owner, Drax Group plc (LSE:DRX) (Selby, England), is in the process converting three of the six coal-fired units at the power plant for burning biomass. One has been running since 2013 with another completed at the end of last year. The third unit is expected to go live in 2016. Each converted unit is capable of powering a million homes and the use of biomass will result in an 80% drop in carbon emissions from each unit.

Last month, Industrial Info reported on the start of limited wood pellet production at a new mill in Gloster, Mississippi by Drax Biomass International Incorporated (Burlington, Massachusetts), a subsidiary of Drax Group. The plant will be capable of producing 450,000 tons per year of fuel pellets from wood chip feedstocks. The company has another identical fuel pellet mill under construction in Bastrop, Louisiana. The Morehouse BioEnergy project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. For additional information, see March 9, 2015, article - Drax Biomass Begins Limited Production at Amite Pellet Mill in Mississippi.

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