Companies prepare to develop oxy-fired CCS project at Drax

BOC is to join Alstom and Drax Power in the development of a 426MW oxy-fired carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project at a Drax site in Yorkshire.

According to a statement, the project will link into the Humber Cluster CO2 transport and offshore storage network currently under development by the National Grid.

The project is a candidate for NER-300 funding, following the submission of the project by the UK DECC Office of Carbon Capture and Storage to the EU process in May 2011.

The developers further intend to apply for support under the upcoming UK DECC CCS Demonstration Programme.

The completed project is expected to demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of CCS as a competitive low-carbon technology and an important part of the post-2020 energy mix in the UK.

In a joint statement, Stephen Burgin, Alstom’s UK country president, and Peter Emery, Drax’s production director, said: ‘We are… confident that the combination of major industrial players now assembled has what’s needed to take CCS from pilot-scale to full-scale operation in what promises to be a flagship project for the UK.’