Biomass is one of the fuel source at the Drax Power Station which has partly been converted from thermal coal to cleaner-burning bioenergy. The pilot will test MHI’s CCS technology while helping realize Drax’s ambition to be a carbon negative company by 2030.
The Kansai Mitsubishi Carbon Dioxide Recovery (KM CDR) Process is installed in 13 commercial plants around the world.
Testing MHI’s proprietary solvents
During the pilot project at Drax, two of MHI's proprietary solvents will be tested, one of which – KS-1 Solvent – is already being used at 13 commercial plants delivered by MHI, including Petra Nova in Texas, U.S., the world's largest post combustion carbon capture facility, capturing 1.4 million tonnes of CO2 a year.
The other is the newly developed KS-21 Solvent, designed to achieve significant performance improvements and cost savings. “KS-21 has many promising characteristics including lower volatility and more stability against degradation,” MHI specified, forecasting this “will result in operational cost savings making the Advanced KM CDR Process even more economic for future deployment.”
Aiming for zero-carbon cluster in Yorkshire
Drax Group CEO, Will Gardiner, said the company’s plans to develop ground-breaking BECCS at the power station in North Yorkshire would support the development of a zero carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region.
Implementing BECCS at Drax could deliver 16 million tonnes of negative emissions a year - a third of the negative emissions the UK needs from BECCS to reach its zero carbon targets by 2050 and anchor a zero carbon industrial cluster in the Humber region, delivering clean growth whilst protecting 55,000 jobs.
Kenji Terasawa, President & CEO, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering, said: "We are very proud to be a part of the BECCS pilot project with Drax. We firmly believe that our carbon capture technology would be able to contribute to the UK's zero carbon targets in a material way."
The Japanese manufacturer aims to provide providing reliable and economically feasible carbon capture technology to utilities around the world, supported by 30 years of research and development activity.