Renewables

Drax, Mitsubishi piloting bioenergy-carbon capture project in UK

Drax has partnered with Mistubishi Heavy Industries to pilot an integrated bioenergy-carbon capture and storage technology at the utility’s power station in the UK.

The new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot facility will be installed within Drax’s CCUS Incubation Area in the autumn.

Drax will leverage the pilot to understand how to achieve negative emissions from its operations. Drax has set a target to become carbon negative by 2050.

The 12-month pilot project will enable Drax to capture 300kgs of carbon emissions a day.

Mitsubishi will demonstrate the ability of its two technologies: firstly, the The KS-1 Solvent which is being used at 13 commercial plants — including Petra Nova in Texas, the world’s largest post-combustion carbon capture facility — capturing 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year; and secondly the KS-21 Solvent, which is designed to achieve significant performance improvements and cost savings.

Implementing BECCS at full scale will enable Drax to deliver 16 million tonnes of negative emissions a year — a third of the negative emissions the UK needs from BECCS to reach its zero-carbon targets by 2050 and anchor a zero-carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region, delivering clean growth whilst protecting 55,000 jobs.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said: “Our plans to develop ground-breaking BECCS at the power station in North Yorkshire will help to boost the UK’s economy following the COVID-19 crisis and support the development of a zero-carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region — delivering clean growth and protecting thousands of jobs.”