On October 25th, US Ambassador to the UK Robert Wood Johnson visited the Drax Power Station near Selby, North Yorkshire to learn more about the UK. It is the UK's largest power station. , contributed to the British economy.
US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Johnson, visited the power station and listened to how Drax upgraded its two-thirds of the generator set to use sustainable biomass to replace coal, which has become Europe's largest decarbonization project.
About 60% of the renewable energy biomass that Drax uses to produce 4 million homes comes from sustainable forests in the southern United States, making it the largest importer of US agricultural and forestry products.
Drax also operates three pellet factories in the southern United States to produce material pellets for the North Yorkshire power station.
Johnson met with Dr. Gardiner, CEO of Drax Group, and Andy Koss, CEO of Drax Power, to learn about the transformation of power plants and their plans for the future.
They plan to launch a pilot project on carbon capture and storage of biomass energy this fall. If the project is successful, it will turn the electricity generated by Drax into negative carbon and make an important contribution to climate change.
They also proposed reforming two coal-fired units to use natural gas and developing 200 megawatts of battery storage, as well as some flexible and renewable power generation assets, including pumped storage power plants, for the acquisition of Scottish power for £702 million.
Johnson said: 'Working at Drax has always been very attractive - the size of this place is unbelievable, and the innovative projects and new technologies being tested here are very exciting.'
'Draks has made a very important contribution to the US economy - I am very happy to be here.'
Will Gardner, CEO of Drax Group said: 'We are very pleased to welcome the Ambassador to the Drax Power Station to celebrate the successful transatlantic relationship between Drax and the United States, which is enough for us to produce and get enough The biomass needed for flexibility plays a vital role. Providing renewable energy to millions of homes and businesses in the UK.'
'In our business in the United States, we have played a valuable role in creating jobs for areas previously affected by the industrial downturn and injecting new vitality into the local community. Since the acquisition of the third pellet plant, We now employ nearly 250 people there. We plan to increase our biomass self-sufficiency so that we can produce about 30% of the particles used in power stations.'
Andy Koss, CEO of Drax Power, added: 'When we transform two-thirds of our power plants into biomass instead of coal, one of the biggest challenges we face is creating a new Biomass global supply chain. '
'We invested about £700 million in the new infrastructure of the power station, and we also invested in our own granulation plant and our port facilities in the US – all of which are critical to the successful transformation of the company. We are now It is the UK's largest renewable energy producer, accounting for about 15% of the country's renewable electricity output.'
Drax contributed approximately £1.7 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) to the UK economy and supported more than 18,500 jobs in 2016. This includes more than £500 million in the Northern Power Plant regional economy and 6,000 jobs in the region. opportunity.
