Drax brings partner on board for CCS project

The North Yorkshire coal power station operator said it has appointed industrial gases firm BOC as a co-developer alongside French engineering giant Alstom on the 426-mega watt carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.

Drax is one of a number of UK projects bidding for European Union and Government cash to build a CCS demonstration project.

The oxy-fired plant would be built alongside its 4,000MW power station at its Selby site.

In a joint statement, Stephen Burgin, Alstom’s UK president and Peter Emery, Drax’s production director, said: “We are delighted to welcome BOC to the project development team and are confident that the combination of major industrial players now assembled has what’s needed to take CCS from pilot scale to full-scale operation in what promises to be a flagship project for the UK, Europe and beyond.”

Drax will also work with Nation-al Grid on the CCS project, which aims to store carbon dioxide under the southern North Sea.

Drax said BOC was selected after a competitive process and brings “world-leading technology in the field of air separation”, as well as complementary engineering and integration skills from its parent The Linde Group.

The project aims to link into the Humber carbon dioxide cluster, transport and off-shore storage network currently being developed by National Grid. The project was submitted for NER-300 European Union funding in May by Britain’s energy department. Developers hope to share a multi-billion euro fund for clean power demonstrations.

Drax and partners also intend to apply for support under the Government’s CCS demonstration programme – a £1bn pot.