IEEE PES SBC University of Manchester | Virtual Site Visit to Drax Power Station

On Thursday 5nd August 2021 from 16:00-17:30 BST, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Student Branch Chapter at the University of Manchester in collaboration with Drax Power Ltd hosted a virtual site visit (webinar) to Drax power station. This event attracted more than 120 registrations.

As one of the world’s leading sustainable biomass generation and supply businesses, the Drax Power visitor centre team delivered four presentations combined with animated videos. The team headed by Mr Leigh Hogan covered the following topics:

1.    Drax Power Generation

A brief history of Drax Power Station is introduced by Mr Hogan, including the transition from a coal-fired power station into a renewable biomass station. Mr Hogan introduced the general generation process of thermal plants in Drax Power Station while also compared coal and biomass fuels. Essentially, wood pellets have less energy density compared to coal while they are from sustainable forestry.

2.    Control Centre Activities

The presenter provides fundamentals on operating a power system control centre, and how Drax Power Plant provides ancillary services to the grid. The presenter addressed the importance of the black-start service provided by Drax power station.

3.    Renewables, Carbon Capture & Storage

The presenter detailed the biomass generation lifecycle, including the source of wood pellets. Also, pump storage stations in the UK managed by Drax are introduced. These storage plants intend to increase system stability as connected wind and solar power increases.

4.    Carbon Negative Aspirations

Drax not only commits a neutral carbon operation but a detailed carbon-negative agenda using novel technologies, including carbon capture, low carbon fuels (e.g. hydrogen) and permanent carbon dioxide storage under the seabed.

The IEEE PES SBC at UoM would like to especially thank all our guests from Drax Power Ltd for their informative presentations. We also thank our participants for attending this event

Due to confidentiality issues, this event could not be recorded. Nevertheless, please do visit drax.com for more information.

Look out for more high quality events brought to you by IEEE PES SBC at the University of Manchester.

– Keyi Wang & Omoniyi Akinpelumi
IEEE PES Student Branch Chapter at the University of Manchester