Drax, Doosan Babcock in world's largest biomass co-firing project

Drax, UK - Drax Power Ltd has signed a £10-million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Doosan Babcock Energy Ltd 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.

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.

"This contract marks the next critical step in the execution of our co-firing project," said Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax “In August, we were pleased to announce that the identification of biomass sources in excess of our direct injection project requirements meant that we could run the new facility alongside our existing co-firing capability to give us a total renewable capacity of 500MW, making us the largest single site renewable generator in the UK.

“At Drax, we are only too well aware of the need to tackle climate change and the competence we have developed in biomass procurement and project execution means that we are able to play our part in the move towards a low carbon economy, whilst at the same time delivering reliable and secure supplies of electricity.”

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 CO2 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.

Drax Power, meanwhile, reported 'good progress' with its turbine upgrade project, with the installation of the new turbine modules already completed on one-third of its generating units. When complete across all six generating units the new turbines will deliver a further saving of one million tonnes in CO2 emissions. Combined with achieving 12.5% output from renewables, Drax is set to reduce its annual emissions of CO2 by over 15% (based on current output levels) by 2011.