Drax and MHI sign deal for world’s largest carbon capture power project

• 2 years ago (2021-06-11)
• David Flin

Biomass 8 Climate change 20 Coal 276 Europe 1061

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Drax and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHI) have agreed a long-term contract for Drax to use MHI’s carbon capture technology, the Advanced KM CDR process. This will be the largest deployment of negative emissions in power generation anywhere in the world.

The contract will see Drax license MHI’s carbon capture solvent, KS-21, to capture carbon dioxide at its power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, UK. Drax is already the largest decarbonisation project in Europe, having converted its power station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal, reducing its emissions by over 85 per cent. By deploying Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology, Drax is aiming to be carbon negative by 2030.

The first BECCS unit at Drax could be operational by 2027 and capturing and storing at least 8 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030.

As part of the agreement, MHI will locate its core CCS team at its European headquarters in London and explore additional employment opportunities in the UK.

Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group, said: “The world urgently needs to move from making climate pledges to taking climate action. This contract between Drax and MHI could contribute to a decade of global environmental leadership from the UK and provide further stimulus to a post-Covid economic recovery.”