The new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot facility will be installed within Drax's CCUS Incubation Area in the autumn
Drax Power Station (Credit: Wikipedia/Harkey Lodger)
UK-based electrical power generation firm Drax has partnered with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, a company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), for a new bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot project.
The new BECCS pilot project is aimed at testing MHI’s carbon capture technology, and is planned to be conducted at Drax Power Station.
In addition, the 12-month pilot programme is expected to capture approximately 300kg of CO2 per day to confirm the suitability of MHI’s technology for use with biomass flue gases at Drax.
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner 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 crisis and support the development of a zero carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region – delivering clean growth and protecting thousands of jobs.
“We’re very pleased to be working with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on this exciting pilot which will further our understanding of the potential for deploying BECCS at scale at Drax – taking us closer to achieving our world-leading ambition to be a carbon negative company by 2030.”
In December last year, Drax announced plans to roll out BECCS technology across two of its six power generation units within the next 10 years.
MHI will test two of its solvents KS-1 and KS-21 in the BECCS pilot programme
MHI will test two of its unique solvents, including KS-1 Solvent which is already being used at 13 commercial plants delivered by MHI, and the newly developed KS-21 Solvent, which has been designed for performance improvements and cost savings.
KS-1 Solvent is also used at Petra Nova in Texas, US, the world’s largest post combustion carbon capture facility, capturing 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
BECCS is anticipated to deliver 16 million tonnes of negative emissions per annum, constituting one third of the negative emissions the UK needs to reach its zero carbon targets by 2050.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering president and CEO Kenji Terasawa said: “We are very proud to be a part of the BECCS pilot project with Drax. We firmly believe that our carbon capture technology would be able to contribute to the UK’s zero carbon targets in a material way.”