The Yorkshire Post has collaborated with Drax Group UK to celebrate Drax Power Station’s 50th anniversary with a series of short films.
Today the country’s largest power station outlines its vital role in supporting UK energy security for decades to come, with plans to deploy BECCS, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage - carbon removal from the atmosphere in the process of converting biomass into energy.
For more information visit https://www.drax.com
Today the country’s largest power station outlines its vital role in supporting UK energy security for decades to come, with plans to deploy BECCS, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage - carbon removal from the atmosphere in the process of converting biomass into energy.
For more information visit https://www.drax.com
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NewsTranscript
00:00So the location of Drax is all about geography. This site was originally put here because
00:19of access to affordable coal, but the other important aspect of Drax's location is water.
00:26To run a power station of this size you need access to water resources, so we're located
00:30close to the River Rouse where we can take water out to cool the system and keep the
00:34plant operational.
00:36Drax Power Station used to be the largest coal-fired power station in Western Europe,
00:43providing secure, reliable power for the UK, but its role has changed as the needs of the
00:50UK energy system have changed.
00:52For me, Drax and Drax's history is a story of change and transition, and when we've converted
00:59Drax from coal to biomass, it's meant that the UK's electricity grid has actually decarbonised
01:04quicker than any other electricity grid in Europe.
01:08Drax Power Station was built on the old Selby Coalfields that were discovered in the late
01:1460s, and it was the last power station to be built in the area, and it was the biggest.
01:21I came up to Drax in 1970 with Cape Insulation, and we were more or less the first ones on
01:30site to start insulating the boilers.
01:33It was amazing, job-wise, I mean at one time I believe it employed about 3,000 people.
01:41The privatisation of the then CGB, the nationalised industry that ran all of the power generation
01:47in the UK up to the end of the 80s, was a huge moment for Drax and the industry.
01:52For Drax it meant more opportunity, it meant more freedom to invest in things that made
01:57sense locally here, and ultimately it meant the opportunity to convert to biomass.
02:04From where I grew up locally, if you were on the right hill, you could see Drax Power
02:12Station, Ferrybridge Power Station, Egborough Power Station, Cotton Power Station and West
02:17Burton Power Station, and with a little bit of a drive you could even get to Ratcliffe
02:21Power Station, so coal-fired power stations were all around me when I grew up.
02:26I remember Drax coming into schools and colleges, and it's how I'd had a part to play there.
02:32A lot of people in the community are either employed directly through Drax, or work on
02:39the site, or employed through some of the supply chain and support network that goes
02:44around it.
02:45It makes a huge impact to the community around us.
02:49What I love most about my job is the idea that I'm directly involved in tackling net zero.
02:57I'm now in the innovation team, and essentially what we're doing is we're going to keep looking
03:02at new opportunities, trying to solve problems that the business has now and might face in
03:07the future, and that might be through adapting the way that we operate the plant, new technologies,
03:13or even new markets and new products.
03:16We've got another important transition that we need to enable going forward, and that's
03:21turning what is a power station that provides secure, reliable biomass power for the nation
03:26into one that can provide carbon removals too.
03:29So as the needs of the power system have changed, the role of the power station is changing,
03:35but it's got a vitally important role going forward to provide secure power and carbon removals.
03:41BEX is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
03:44So essentially what that means is it's a new process piece of equipment that we'll be installing
03:51at the power station, which essentially takes the carbon dioxide out of the flue gas that's
03:56currently emitted, and then it stores that underground.
04:01DRAX has a really important role in pushing that power through the National Grid system,
04:06making sure that it gets to the locations to keep people powered and keep the kettles
04:11boiling and keep the lights on.
04:13I'm tremendously proud that DRAX has got to its 50th anniversary.
04:17It's a key milestone for everybody who works here.
04:20We're in great shape with our conversion to sustainable biomass, and with BEX we're looking
04:25at hopefully another 50 years.
04:27This technology at DRAX Power Station will provide a long-term and critical future for
04:32this asset, helping to sustain jobs and growth and opportunities in this region.
04:38It'll continue to be a beacon, not just for power generation, but for decarbonisation,
04:43an emblem for how we can change the way in which we produce electricity and we keep the
04:48lights on around the country.
04:57DRAX Power Station
04:58www.drax.gov.au