Greener power hopes as Drax bids for funds

Drax Power said yesterday it is bidding for European Union money to develop a new 426 megawatt (MW) standalone “clean” power demonstration project in Selby, North Yorkshire, the home of its 4,000MW power station.

Administrators of troubled energy firm Powerfuel, which ran out of money in its quest to build a CCS power station at Hatfield near Doncaster, said it had also submitted a bid for EU funding.

Joanne Pollard, chief executive of business development body CO2Sense, said: “With its clusters of heavy carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters and the proximity to the depleted gas fields of the southern North Sea, the Yorkshire and the Humber region is the obvious place to develop CCS projects.

“So we’re delighted to see that Drax has joined Powerfuels in submitting a bid to the EU for funds to help them to develop CCS technology. As well as being good for the environment, it will be good for the local economy.”

Drax will work with French engineering group Alstom and National Grid on the CCS project. The companies said they have lodged a bid with the Government for partial EU funding.

National Grid and “an experienced offshore partner” will develop a system to transport compressed carbon dioxide out to the southern North Sea, where it will be permanently stored.

If the bid is successful it could revive plans to establish a cluster of CCS projects in the Humber region, added the companies.

“Alstom is delighted to confirm its involvement in bidding for EU funds to support the development of this new UK CCS project,” said Alstom UK’s president and head of power, Stephen Burgin.

“Along with our partners Drax Power Limited and National Grid, we believe that this truly world-class project, based on proven oxy-firing technology, has the potential to become a flagship programme which will deliver viable, economic solutions to help decarbonise the UK power market.”

Oxy-firing burns fuel with oxygen instead of air to allow easier removal of CO2. It is typically retrofitted to power plants.

Yorkshire’s CCS cluster plans were dealt a blow when Powerfuel, which runs Hatfield Colliery near Doncaster, went into administration last year. Powerfuel planned a 900MW CCS plant at Hatfield and had secured a £160m EU grant. Administrators KPMG confirmed Powerfuel has also submitted a bid for EU funding.

“That’s because it’s business as usual,” said a KPMG spokeswoman, adding they have received 10 expressions of interest from potential buyers of Powerfuel.

CO2Sense estimates establishing a Humber CCS network would create 55,000 jobs and bring £2bn investment. It would connect power plants, steel works, oil refineries and factories via a pipe network stretching from the Aire Valley to the banks of the Humber, taking CO2 out into the North Sea.

National Grid is also working on the Powerfuel project and said it expected to soon release more detail on plans for a “common onshore and offshore transportation and storage solution for the Humberside projects”.

Drax declined to comment beyond the statement. It first revealed plans to investigate CCS a year ago. A spokeswoman said Drax was still prioritising its plans to burn more biomass. It intends to build three 290MW biomass plants and also wants to convert one of its six 650MW units to burn only biomass.

In the UK Drax is competing with nine CCS bids and five non-CCS renewable projects, submitted to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) before a Wednesday deadline. The Government will submit only three projects to the EU for a share of 4.5bn euro (£3.8bn) to fund clean power demonstrations.

Rival bids include Scottish and Southern Energy and Peel Energy.

A spokeswoman for DECC said: “We confirm that we have had nine applications for carbon capture and storage which shows the continued high level of interest in CCS from the UK industry and confirms the lead that the UK has in the development of this technology.”

gas trapped, piped and buried

CARBON capture and storage (CCS) aims to reduce fossil fuel emissions which lead to global warming by burying greenhouse gases. It involves trapping up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide (CO2) at source, such as coal-fired power stations, steel plants and oil refineries, and compressing it.

The compressed CO2 can be pumped through a series of pipes to a suitable well in geological formations. Often these are depleted gas caverns, oil wells or saline aquifers deep under the seabed.

The gas is pumped deep into the wells, where it filters into porous sandstone.

The cost of compressing, transporting and storing CO2 has so far prevented development in the UK.