July 2008
News > Latest news > Capula to deliver major Control Scheme at Drax Power Station
Capula to deliver major Control Scheme for £50M Contract for Drax Power Station
Drax Power Station is the largest, cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK. It has six 660MW-generating units, which produce over 4000MW of electricity, which represents 7% of the UK's total requirements. Emissions are carefully controlled; Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) plants are fitted to each of the six generating units along with a number of other environmental protection schemes.
In order to maintain its position in the UK as an innovator, Drax has committed to building the largest co-firing biomass scheme in the world
The new 400MW direct injection co-firing facility will be operational from mid 2010, which together with the power station's existing co-firing capability will put the total co-firing capacity at 500MW. This means that 12.5% of the power station's output - the equivalent of over 600 wind turbines - will come from renewable sources and produce a saving of over 2.5 million tonnes of CO2 each year. The new scheme will be fitted to all six generation units at the site.
Co-firing – blending and burning biomass materials with coal - provides various environmental and financial benefits:
• It is a low cost, efficient renewable technology
• It directly replaces coal burning with a CO2 neutral fuel, so reducing CO2 emissions
• It contributes towards Government's targets on the use of renewables in electricity generation
Capula has been selected to deliver the control scheme for this £50 million contract by Alstom Power. The processing works will receive, handle, store and process various biomass materials ready for direct injection into the power station's coal-fired boilers
The control of the scheme is to be implemented with Schneider Electric Quantum PLC's and Viejo Citect SCADA, providing Drax with a fully integrated control solution. This system will compliment the six-generation units and its common services that Capula has already integrated.
The solution will further underpin the current strategy of Drax to maximise use of it investments in modern control systems in order to provide Real-Time information to optimise the operation of its plant and emissions.