Drax power station

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Drax is a large coal-fired power station located near Selby in North Yorkshire in Northern England. It is named after the parish of Drax and is owned by Drax Group plc.

Drax power station seen from Barmby Tidal Barrage across the River Ouse.

1 About
2 History
3 Environmental effects
4 Criticism
5 See also
6 Notes and references
7 External links

[edit] About

The plant has six 660 MW generating units, with a maximum capacity of 3,945 MW, producing around 24 TWhr (86.4 petajoules) annually. It is the largest single electricity generator in the United Kingdom, producing around 7% of total demand, and the second largest coal-fired plant in Europe. It has a maximum potential consumption of 36,000 tonnes of coal a day, it takes around 7 million to 11 million tonnes annually, supplied in part from the nearby Kellingley Colliery (not part of the Selby complex) and in bulk from Poland. Although it generates around 1.5 million tonnes of ash and 22.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, Drax is the most carbon efficient coal-fired powerplant in the United Kingdom[1]. All of the six generating units are equipped with the APMS control system developed by RWE npower and Thales and implemented by Capula.^[1]

[edit] History

Built by the Central Electricity Generating Board to be near the newly discovered Selby coalfields, Drax was the last coal-fired plant to be built in Britain, and was constructed in two equal-sized phases (three generating units each). The first phase began generation in 1974, and the second phase was complete by 1986. The boilers were constructed by Babcock Power Ltd and the generators by Parsons. The plant was fitted with FGD (Flue gas desulfurization) scrubbers over eight years from 1988 by Mitsui-Babcock. Its 259 m (850 ft) chimney is the tallest chimney in the UK.

In the privatisation and breakup of the UK power industry it was transferred to privatised generating company National Power in 1990. National Power sold Drax power station in November 1999 to AES Corporation for £1.87 billion (US$3 billion). It is now owned by the Drax Group.

[edit] Environmental effects

In 2005 Drax produced 20.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The Times reports this is more than that produced by 103 small unindustrialised nations and compares to 91 million tonnes of carbon dioxide produced by vehicles in the UK. [2] However, it is still the cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power stations in the UK due to its relative youth and investment in pollution-reduction technologies.

[edit] Criticism

On 31 August 2006, around 600 people attended a protest against the power station called Reclaim Power, coordinated by the Camp for Climate Action. Thirty nine people were arrested during a protest at the plant against carbon emissions after they tried to illegally gain access to the plant. At least 3,000 police officers, from 12 forces from as far afield as Hampshire and London, were reported to have been drafted in for the duration of the protest.[3]