Drax Power Limited has announced that it has signed a £10M ($18M) Engineering, Procurement and Construction (”EPC”) contract with Doosan Babcock Energy Limited to supply direct injection biomass co-firing systems to all six coal-fired generating units at the 4,000MW Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, UK.
Co-firing involves the mixing and burning of renewable biomass materials with coal and, given the carbon neutral status of biomass, is a recognised carbon abatement technology that has significant potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power stations.
The direct injection firing systems represent a major component of the new co-firing facility at Drax and are designed to receive and transport processed biomass materials to the power station’s coal-fired boilers.
On completion, the biomass co-firing facility will be the largest of its type in the world, which alongside Drax’s existing co-firing capability will provide a total of 500MW of renewable electricity, or the equivalent output of over 600 wind turbines.
The biomass co-firing facility will reduce Drax Power Station’s emissions of CO2 by over two and a half million tonnes per annum supporting Drax’s commitment to tackling climate change by reducing its CO2 emissions.
The contract for the direct injection systems has been awarded following a competitive tender process and is a significant project for Doosan Babcock. Work will commence immediately with the detailed engineering design and procurement of key items of equipment. Installation of the direct injection systems is scheduled to be complete towards the end of 2009. All six generating units will be commissioned in parallel with the delivery of the biomass handling and processing plant programme.
Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax, said that the contract marks the next critical step in the execution of Drax's co-firing project.
Iain Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Doosan Babcock, said: This is an important project that delivers a cost-effective low carbon technology solution in support of Drax’s commitment to tackle climate change by reducing CO2 emissions.”
