UK gives green light for BECCS at Drax Power Station

UK power generation company Drax has received permission to convert two of its biomass units at Drax Power Station to bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

The Development Consent Order (DCO) was granted by the UK's Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, and provides the necessary planning consent for the project.

The decision is based on the project's ability to achieve a 95% capture efficiency there would be negative GHG emissions due to carbon captured in the operational phase.

The power station currently has four biomass generating units.

Drax Group plans to invest billions in its BECCS plans and aims to source up to 80% of the materials and services it needs to develop BECCS in the UK from British businesses.

According to the company's statement, this could deliver up to 10,000 high-skilled jobs in the Humber at the peak of the project’s construction.

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Will Gardiner, CEO Drax Group, said: “We look forward to working with our supply chain and other partners over the coming years on the project which, when fully operational, will deliver secure renewable power and approximately 8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide removals per year.

“We welcome the ongoing development of policy support for BECCS and the anticipated launch of a consultation on a bridging mechanism for biomass generators to take them from the end of current renewable schemes through to BECCS operations.”

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, commented on the announcement stating that the project will ensure progress towards decarbonising the grid and will be a major boost towards reaching net zero in the UK.

BECCS is a large-scale technology that can generate renewable energy and deliver carbon removals.

Furthermore, according to Drax, a recent Baringa analysis found that delivering BECCS at Drax Power Station could potentially save the UK £15 billion ($19 billion) in whole economy costs between 2030 and 2050.