Taiwanese Ambassador visits Drax power plant
Published by Claire Cuddihy,
Assistant Editor
World Coal,
The Taiwanese Ambassador to the UK has visited the country’s largest power plant to find out more about how it has transformed itself to become the biggest decarbonisation project in Europe. The visit was organised by Nigel Adams MP who was keen to demonstrate Drax’s innovative focus on renewable energy.
Ambassador David Y.L. Lin of the Taipei Representative Office visited Drax power plant in Selby, North Yorkshire to meet with Drax Power CEO Andy Koss and MP for Selby and Ainsty, Nigel Adams MP, who explained how Drax, which was once the UK’s largest coal-fired power plant and now produces enough renewable electricity to power 4 million homes.
He and the delegation had a tour of the power plant and learned how Drax upgraded four of its six generating units to use sustainable biomass instead of coal to become the UK’s biggest single site renewable power generator.
In 2018, Drax signed up to the government’s Powering Past Coal Alliance, a UK-Canadian initiative which seeks to end the use of coal by 2030 in developed countries as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
Andy Koss, Drax Power CEO, said: “We know that coal does not have a role to play in a low carbon future. By upgrading two thirds of the power plant to run on sustainable biomass, we’re delivering carbon savings of more than 80% compared to coal.
“We want to share some of the engineering knowledge gained from successfully upgrading the power station to use biomass in the hope we can remove more coal from the system globally.”
He added: “We’re committed to reducing carbon emissions further and are piloting Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology, which could enable Drax to become the world’s first carbon negative power plant.”
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Aintsy said: “Drax is a key economic asset both in Selby and the wider region. It is vital to the local community, directly employing 900 people, supporting 5700 jobs through its supply chains and generating £600 million/yr for the northern economy.
“It is looking to the future both in terms of supporting education and skills through community outreach work, as well as exploring opportunities to use new technologies which will enable the power plant to innovate and grow.”
Drax is progressing plans for repowering its two remaining coal units with high efficiency gas power generation and battery storage.
It welcomed more than 12 500 visitors to the power station last year. As a member of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, Drax is committed to the development of a low carbon future globally.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/power/10042019/taiwanese-ambassador-visits-drax-power-plant/
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