Drax plans to stop burning coal in 10 years
04 Aug 2010
Drax, the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in Britain is planning to go eco-friendly and stop burning coal in next 10 years.
According to finance director Tony Quinlan, quoted by The Guardian newspaper, the company was looking to convert all six units of the coal-fired power station so that the power plant burns biomass such as wood chip within the next 10 years.
The company will however go ahead if the government agrees to grant renewable subsidies to such converted coal plants. At present only purpose-built biomass plants are eligible for such extra payout to cover their higher costs.
The company is hoping to start with the conversion of the first unit capable of generating 660 MW of electricity and complete the same by next year which would be the first of its kind conversion anywhere in the world.
On successful conversion and with government subsidies making it economic to do so, two more Drax units could be similarly converted to biomass by 2015, Quinlan, told the Guardian newspaper.
Drax currently does some co-firing using biomass coal mixtures to reduce carbon emissions. Burning biomass is said to be a "carbon neutral'' process with the material being regrown, to allow for the re-absorption of carbon emitted during combustion.
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