Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Drax ink BECCS deal

Drax Group has announced it is to work with Japanese engineering giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on the development of its proposed bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) facility at its Yorkshire power plant.

Under the terms of the deal, announced this morning, Drax will license MHI's carbon capture technology, which relies on a proprietary solvent known as KS-21, to capture emissions produced at its biogas power station in Selby.

Drax said the deal, which comes after it had successfully trialled two of MHI's proprietary solvents in a pilot, made it the first company to sign a contract for the deployment of carbon capture technology in the UK.

The tie-up will see MHI move its core carbon capture and storage team to its London headquarters, while exploring additional employment, supply chain, and solvent production opportunities in the UK, Drax said.

The power company claims the proposed BECCS project at Selby, which would see CO2 produced at the power plant captured and then transported to geological storage sites under the North Sea, would allow it to generate a significant portion of the UK's electricity with "negative emissions", thus contributing to the UK's climate goals. It is currently working to secure a development consent order from the government to move ahead with the project, having kickstarted the planning process for the facility in March.

But the project has come under fire from campaigners fearful of the risks of investing in technology that is yet to be proven at scale and is reliant on feedstocks that critics insist have questionable environmental and climate credentials. An analysis from Ember last month questioned whether the BECCS project, which would rely on burning wood for energy, could credibly claim to deliver 'negative emission' power and estimated its construction would require £31.7bn in government subsidy over its lifetime - calculations that were fiercely contested by Drax.

Today Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner emphasised how the "game-changing contract" between Drax and MHI would "contribute to a decade of global environmental leadership from the UK" and help drive the country's economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic.

"Carbon capture technologies like BECCS are going to be absolutely vital in the fight against the climate crisis," he said. "Subject to the right regulatory framework being in place, Drax stands ready to invest further in this essential negative emissions technology, which not only permanently removes CO2 from the atmosphere but also delivers the reliable, renewable electricity needed for clean, green economic growth."

Drax estimates that construction of the BECCS plant could start in 2024 and that emissions could begin to be captured as soon as 2027, provided that the government delivers the requisite "investment framework" and "an effective negative emissions policy".

MHI president and CEO Kenji Terasawa said the firm's carbon capture technology would help countries around the world achieve their climate goals.

"We are very proud to have been selected as Drax's technology partner and we firmly believe that our carbon capture technology will make a significant contribution to the UK and wider global community achieving their net zero targets," he said. "We look forward to expanding our presence in the UK and developing a centre of excellence for the deployment of carbon capture technology across Europe, the Middle East and Africa region."

News of the tie-up comes less than a week after engineering, construction, and project management company Bechtel announced it had entered a "strategic partnership" with Drax to explore locations to construct BECCS plants globally.

Bechtel will focus its work with Drax on exploring "strategically important regions for new build BECCS plants", including North America and Western Europe, as well as reviewing how to optimise the engineering and design of BECCS plants to maximise their efficiency, performance, and cost.