Drax and Alstom Sign £50m Biomass Deal

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TheBioenergySite Latest News

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

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Drax and Alstom Sign Ł50m Biomass Deal

UK - Drax, allegedly one of England's biggest polluters, has signed a major deal worth Ł50m (€63 million) with Alstom for the development of a biomass co-firing facility to be constructed at the 4,000MW Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.

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"Delivering significant fuel diversification and carbon abatement is central to our business strategy. Meeting our 10% co-firing target is key to achieving our goal of 15% carbon abatement and this contract represents a major milestone in the execution of our co-firing project"

Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive of Drax

The processing works will receive, handle, store and process various biomass materials ready for direct injection into the power station’s coal-fired boilers. Drax expects to award contracts for the direct injection equipment and the rail unloading facility in the next few months.

The contract has been awarded following a competitive tender process and marks the first major project for Alstom at Drax. Work begins immediately to prepare the site for construction which is scheduled to start in the second half of 2008. Commissioning of phase one of the project will be completed towards the end of 2009.

The completed project, which at 400MW is believed to be the largest biomass co-firing project in the world, is part of Drax’s commitment to tackling climate change through reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide ("CO₂") by 15%, while underlining Alstom’s proven track record in supplying biomass co-firing technology to large-scale coal-fired power plants.

Co-firing, the blending and burning of renewable biomass materials with coal, is a recognised carbon abatement technology that has significant potential to reduce the emissions of CO₂ from coal-fired power stations. Over the last five years, Drax has developed the capability to co-fire renewable biomass materials with coal and has set itself the challenging target to produce 10% of its output from co-firing, the equivalent output of around 500 wind turbines, which will reduce its emissions of CO₂ by over two million tonnes each year.

Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive of Drax, said:

“Delivering significant fuel diversification and carbon abatement is central to our business strategy. Meeting our 10% co-firing target is key to achieving our goal of 15% carbon abatement and this contract represents a major milestone in the execution of our co-firing project.

“At Drax, we are only too well aware of the need to tackle climate change and we firmly believe that we are part of the solution. We have a role to play in the transition towards a low carbon economy whilst delivering reliable supplies of electricity.”

Patrick Fragman, Managing Director at Alstom, said:

“Alstom recognises Drax Power Limited’s long term commitment to their continual reduction of CO₂ and are very proud to be associated with the largest biomass co-firing project in the world. This contract underpins Alstom’s position as world leader in delivering biomass co-firing solutions worldwide to contribute to the fight against climate change, in line with its clean power strategy.”

Drax Power Station is also making good progress with its turbine upgrade project, which when complete will deliver a further one million tonnes saving in CO₂ emissions. Combined with achieving its 10% co-firing target, Drax is set to reduce its annual emissions of CO₂ by 15% (based on current output levels) by 2011.