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Andrew W Cox: Yorkshire at the heart of power revolution
DRAX Group has taken another major step in diversifying its generating capacity – away from coal-powered electricity – with its new biomass strategy which includes plans to build three 300 megawatt (MW) biomass-fuelled power plants in Yorkshire.
When they are operating at full capacity, the plants, with a total generating capacity of 900MW, could power more than 3.5 million homes –and be a key component in the UK's renewable energy targets.
Construction work – following the successful completion of the planning and authorisation process – is set to start in 2010, with the three plants being commissioned between 2014 and 2017.
The strategy document states that the total cost of the biomass projects will be in the order of 2bn – indicating that Drax Group is planning to be a major player in the UK renewable energy sector and that it is committed to reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide from its electricity generation.
The project is also interesting as it a joint venture between Drax Group and the project venture subsidiary of the German conglomerate, Siemens. Drax will have a 60 per cent shareholding in the new venture company – with Siemens having the remaining 40 per cent.
Siemens will be providing the turbine and generation equipment for the three plants, as well as long-term maintenance. Drax Group will manage and operate the plants, will organise the biomass procurement, logistics and handling, and trade the electricity produced.
The three biomass plants will join an increasing number of new
biomass generating projects in the UK which are either operational or under construction. The largest project to date is a 400m, 350MW woodchip-fuelled plant, which will be based at Port Talbot, in South Wales (scheduled to be operational in 2010).
The bulk of the material to fuel this new "dash to biomass" will have to be sourced from abroad – hence the location of many of the generating projects near to ports, such as Hull and Immingham, where adequate land for storing imported materials is also available. This will be good news for the ports, as well as shipping and haulage companies.
However, it is hoped that once the new biomass plants are commissioned, more farmers and forestry companies in the UK, including those based in this region, will sign supply contracts with Drax and other plant operators and that the new developments will give them the confidence to plant greater acreages of biofuel crops.
The new biomass plants will have significant advantages compared with the majority of other renewable technologies – such as wind power, solar and photovoltaics – which are intermittent and can often operate
for up to only 30 per cent of the year. This requires back-up by other sources, which are obtained mainly from fossil fuels.
The biomass plants offer a robust continuous baseload for more than
90 per cent of the year. As such, the forecasting of electricity generated by the plant is more reliable and the UK's national grid
can better balance electricity supply with demand and maintain the integrity of the national electricity transmission system.
While the new biomass power plants are an important step in the medium-term development of Drax Group, the business is still focused on coal-fired electricity generation. The long-term future of Drax will be determined by the construction – and financing – of a new generation of clean-coal generation units, incorporating carbon capture
and storage.
The group has indicated that it is interested in installing new coal-fired, super-ultra-critical generating systems, but many important hurdles lie ahead which will affect the development timescales for these new, more efficient power plants.
The UK Government and its European counterparts (as well as the European Parliament) need to complete a new legislative framework governing greenhouse gas emissions, plus carbon capture and storage technologies – particularly in the period after 2012 when the current Kyoto Protocol on emissions expires. This will help all generating companies plan with greater certainty for the coming decades.
The presentations by Drax Group's management also highlighted the need for new generation capacity to be built over the next decade to replace ageing power stations.
Clean coal, biomass and other renewables – as well as gas and nuclear power – will be key components in any future UK generating mix. Failure to speedily build this replacement generating capacity will almost certainly lead to the lights going out.
Dr Andrew W Cox is manager of Energy Intelligence & Marketing Research.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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