Drax soon to start building second biomass plant
Drax’s plans to build its second biomass plant are close to completion.
Following the success of its smaller facility in Goole, North Humberside, UK, the Yorkshire-based power station operator is now developing a pellet producing facility for the town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
Made from shredding, grinding, drying and compressing straw and miscanthus or elephant grass, the pellets will be co-fired alongside coal at the company’s 4,000MW power station.
150,000 tonnes of pellets will be produced annually at the 8,000m2 site, which was developed by Andritz. Andritz worked on the plant in Goole, which has the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of pellets a year with a 932-bale storage capacity. The second plant, however, will be built on a much larger scale and will have the capacity to store up to 2,300 bales.
According to Drax there is around 2 million tonnes of straw available within a 50 to 70 mile radius of its power station and the company is looking to collect its straw and miscanthus from farms within this area.
Although Drax has been using biomass in its plant for seven years, the company is now ramping up consumption as an increasing amount of emphasis is being put on the use of green energy.
Following the success of its smaller facility in Goole, North Humberside, UK, the Yorkshire-based power station operator is now developing a pellet producing facility for the town of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.
Made from shredding, grinding, drying and compressing straw and miscanthus or elephant grass, the pellets will be co-fired alongside coal at the company’s 4,000MW power station.
150,000 tonnes of pellets will be produced annually at the 8,000m2 site, which was developed by Andritz. Andritz worked on the plant in Goole, which has the capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of pellets a year with a 932-bale storage capacity. The second plant, however, will be built on a much larger scale and will have the capacity to store up to 2,300 bales.
According to Drax there is around 2 million tonnes of straw available within a 50 to 70 mile radius of its power station and the company is looking to collect its straw and miscanthus from farms within this area.
Although Drax has been using biomass in its plant for seven years, the company is now ramping up consumption as an increasing amount of emphasis is being put on the use of green energy.
