Engineering news
Up to £100 million will be spent to create a renewable fuels terminal at the port of Immingham and upgrade the handling and storage facilities at the ports of Hull and Goole. The upgrade will enable the ports to handle the wood pellet shipments needed for Drax to convert half of its coal-fired power station to biomass.
Drax has signed a 15-year contract with Associated British Ports (ABP) to create the new infrastructure. The move will create 100 jobs at the three Humber ports during construction and more than 100 permanent positions once the facilities are operational.
A dedicated import facility will be built at Immingham that can handle Panamax-size bulk carriers. These will service up to three million tonnes of wood pellets every year. To accommodate the facility a new quayside discharge plant will be built with associated equipment to convey biomass from the ships to new silos with 100,000-tonne capacity.
The wood pellets will be moved from the silos to a new train loading facility. This will service specialised rail wagons that will transport the biomass to the Drax power station at Selby. As part of the project, rail infrastructure at the port will undergo a significant upgrade.
At Hull dedicated handling and storage facilities capable of managing up to one million tonnes of biomass each year will be put in place. Further inland at the port of Goole, seven miles from Drax, investments will be made in warehousing.
James Cooper, chief executive of ABP, said: “ABP’s Humber ports are already at the forefront of the renewables industry with the proposed development of the £200 million Green Port Hull offshore wind turbine facility, while at Grimsby there is continuous investment by leading offshore windfarm operators in the development of operations and maintenance bases.
“This investment at Hull, Immingham and Goole looks set to secure the Humber region’s position as a centre of excellence for the development of the low-carbon energy future.”
Last year Drax shelved plans to build dedicated biomass plants at Selby and Immingham after government renewable energy subsidies did not stack up favourably for investment. Since then, the company has focused on biomass conversion and now plans to convert three of the six generating units at the Drax power station to burn biomass instead of coal.
The first unit is scheduled for conversion next month, with the second following in 2014. Although it is technically feasible to convert the third unit in 2015, a final decision will depend on Drax securing the rights to sufficient sustainable biomass sources.
Drax’s chief executive, Dorothy Thompson, said: “Investment in the biomass supply chain is critical to developing this nascent industry and realising its huge potential. Importantly, this investment helps to deliver both the low-carbon and growth agendas set for the UK, whilst providing secure and reliable supplies of cost-effective renewable power.”