Drax Energy, the company that operates Europe's largest biomass power station, is working on an upgrade over the next 4 months to improve the upcoming performance of one of the station's four biomass units and increase efficiency. This ultimately results in biomass energy that costs 33 percent less. The upgrade will be ready in 2027.
The power plant has been transformed in recent years from using coal to generating renewable energy with sustainable biomass, reducing carbon emissions by more than 2012% since 90, making Drax one of the lowest carbon intensity producers in Europe.
Drax claims to have the 'largest renewable energy plant' in Europe. The biomass power plant in the North of England has a total capacity of 2,6 gigawatts for biomass. In addition, it can also burn coal in two reactors; good for 1,3 gigawatts of capacity, but these currently produce no power and will be stopped completely in 2022. The Drax Power Plant is by far the largest biomass power plant in Europe; at number two is the Finnish Alholmens Kraft with 265 megawatts, and at number three is the Dutch Maasvlakte 3 with 220 megawatts.
In the first half of 2021, the Drax Power Station generated 7,6 TWh of sustainable electricity from sustainable biomass, enough to power more than 5 million households.
Drax plans to go even further by becoming carbon negative by 2030 using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).
