BIOMASS CONVERSION INDUSTRY NEWS


New biomass facilities launched at Drax power station


D


rax, the UK’s largest power station, is set to become the nation’s largest single renewable


electricity generator through the operation of new biomass facilities launched at the site near Selby on 9 December, 2013.


The British Government’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary, the Rt Hon Edward Davey, MP, opened new systems to receive, store and distribute sustainable biomass and fully support Drax Power Station’s first converted biomass unit, as well as further units as they are converted. The biomass conversion will ultimately see three of the six generating units at the power sta- tion converted to burn sustainable biomass in place of coal. The first unit has been running successfully on sustainable biomass since the beginning of April, 2013, with the second planned for this year and the third in 2016. Each converted unit will provide enough renew- able electricity to meet the needs of over one million homes. As a low-cost, low-carbon and


can deliver low carbon electric- ity on demand, at the scale the grid needs and precisely when it’s needed. It is also a low-cost renewable, which will help to manage the expense of the UK’s transition to a low-carbon economy.”


reliable form of renewable power, sustainable biomass is an essential part of the energy mix, which can be counted on to be available when it is needed.


Edward Davey helping unload pellets from train wagon. medium and long term.


Across its full life cycle, sustain- able biomass can deliver major carbon savings of around 80% relative to coal. Drax has oper- ated a robust and independently audited sustainability policy for over five years. This means that all of the biomass used is sustainable, protects biodiversity, prevents deforestation and delivers genuine carbon savings over the short,


Dorothy Thompson, CBE, Chief Executive of Drax, said: “Today marks the transformation not just of our power station, but of our whole business. I am enormously proud of the team at Drax. The facilities being opened today are a unique feat of engineering and re- markably they have been delivered at an operational power station, which the country depends on to deliver 7-8% of the power we need.


“This fundamental change has implications far beyond Drax and even our supply chain. Sustainable biomass has a critical role in the UK’s electricity mix. It is the only renewable, which


In response, Mr Davey con- firmed, “Today is a real landmark for Drax and for Britain’s energy security. Drax’s ambitious plans have made it one of Europe’s big- gest renewable generators, help- ing to increase our green energy supplies.


“In August, we announced challenging and tough sustainabil- ity criteria for biomass and we’ll be monitoring the sector against those standards.”


Drax Power Station is currently the largest single emitter of carbon dioxide in the UK, but conversion of three of its six generating units to sustainable biomass will see its emissions reduced by around ten million tonnes on today’s levels. This will help to tackle climate change and will form a crucial part of the UK’s power mix.


Pellet storage domes at UK’s Drax power station.


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