Recently, members of the Biomass Connect team had the opportunity to visit the Drax Power Station, located in Selby, North Yorkshire. The station is the largest power plant in the UK and is responsible for producing around 7% of the country’s electricity. Drax is also the largest decarbonisation project in Europe, and the company is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Drax Power Station
During our visit to the station, we had the chance to learn about the innovative technology used to generate electricity from sustainable biomass, including wood pellets made from waste wood. The process involves converting the biomass into a gas, which is then burned to produce steam. The steam drives turbines, which generate electricity, and the waste heat from the process is also used to produce steam for industrial processes, making it an efficient and sustainable way to generate power.
We were impressed by the scale of the operation at Drax, which has six generating units and produces enough electricity to power around 4 million homes. We also learned about the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint by capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions (BECCS), which is then used for industrial processes such as carbonating drinks. (Read more about BECCS in our Technical Article here: https://www.biomassconnect.org/technical-articles/bioenergy-with-carbon-capture-and-storage-beccs/)
Overall, our visit to Drax Power Station was an insightful and informative experience. It was fascinating to see how sustainable biomass is being used to generate electricity on a large scale, and we were impressed by Drax’s commitment to decarbonisation. We are grateful to the Drax team for their hospitality and for the opportunity to learn more about this important project.
To give you a taste of what we experienced during our visit, we have included a video clip that shows various clips of our tour of the facility. We hope you enjoy watching and learning more about Drax Power Station.
