Drax

Drax is one of the UK’s biggest power stations and it generates approximately 7% of the nation’s electricity. In the past, Drax was a coal-fired power station, but now it has been transformed into a sustainable plant that generates energy from biomass.

Currently, four out of the six generators on site burn biomass. Once the final two have been transformed, it will become the largest renewable power station in the country. Previously, two were kept as coal fired, but due to energy concerns with world events disrupting the supply of fossil fuels, it was the right time to begin converting the remaining generators. They will become cycle gas turbines alongside 200MW battery storage.

An additional project at Drax, is the development and the implementation of a bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (Beccs) facility. Beccs is a carbon removal technology in which flue gases are produced when sustainable biomass is used to generate renewable electricity. The technology also entails the gases being captured through a chemical reaction and stored permanently in deposits on site at Drax.

Billington Structures provided a new 225 metre long steelwork pipe bridge, for one of the projects at the power station. The steel bridge construction will connect two existing structures at a high of 15-25 metres.