Renewable energy company Drax has signed an agreement with British Steel to explore opportunities for its steel to be used to build the world’s largest carbon capture project. The latter will involve an investment of several billion pounds and will be located at its power station in the UK.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) brings together two major UK industries to support the development of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). A technology that could drive an entirely new sector of the economy and create leadership opportunities for the UK in a must-have technology to tackle climate change.
Through the partnership, Drax and British Steel aim to support efforts to meet the UK’s climate targets and improve the standard of the North, while supporting skills within the steel sector.
BECCS is a critical technology needed to combat global warming because it permanently removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while generating renewable electricity.
Drax plans to invest around £2 billion in its plans to build BECCS in the UK. Work could begin as early as 2024, and the energy company plans to source up to 80 percent of the materials and services it needs for the project from British companies.
Some 13,000 tons of steel will be needed for the major infrastructure project, including beams produced at British Steel’s Scunthorpe and Teesside steel mills.
Drax’s BECCS project could capture 8 million tons of CO2 per year from 2030, making it the largest carbon capture and storage project in the world.
The UK steel industry plays a vital role in the northern communities in which it operates, generating thousands of jobs in both Scunthorpe and Teesside. Major infrastructure projects such as Drax’s BECCS schemes will help to protect jobs in the steel sector.
Source: Bioenergy Insight (2022)