United Kingdom – British Steel has agreed to work with Drax to investigate the possibility of using its steel in the world’s largest multi-billion-pound carbon capture project, which will be built at Drax’s power station in the UK.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) brings together two major British industries to support the development of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), a technology that has the potential to launch a new sector of the economy and position the UK as a global leader in a critical technology needed to combat global warming.
Drax and British Steel hope to use the partnership to help the UK meet its climate targets and level the playing field in the North, while also bolstering steel industry skills. Because it permanently removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also generating reliable, renewable electricity, BECCS is a critical technology for combating global warming.
World’s largest
Drax is prepared to invest around £2 billion in its plans to construct BECCS in the United Kingdom. Work on the project could begin as early as 2024, with the energy company planning to source up to 80% of the materials and services it requires from British companies.
The major infrastructure project will require around 13,000 tonnes of steel, including beams produced at British Steel’s Scunthorpe and Teesside steelworks.
From 2030, Drax’s BECCS project could capture 8 million tonnes of CO2, making it the world’s largest carbon capture and storage project. It will also serve as an anchor project for the East Coast Cluster, which includes the Zero Carbon Humber and Net Zero Teesside organizations, which together account for more than half of the UK’s industrial emissions.
