Crown Capital Management -Hazel

Source

UK – Drax, the traditionally coal fired power station in North Yorkshire may well claim to be the largest and cleanest of its type in the country, producing between 7 and 8% of Britain’s electricity but since 2003 it has been using an amount of sustainable biomass in an effort to reduce its environmental impact. This work took a big step forward last week when the company unveiled the UK’s first purpose-built biomass rail freight wagon, designed by the team at Lloyd’s Register Rail, and intended to radically improve the logistics required in transporting the fuel.

Drax is one of the world’s largest source of carbon emissions but is converting three of its six electricity generating units to burn sustainable biomass in place of coal with the intention of reducing emissions by some 10 million tonnes of CO2 a year compared to levels today. Obviously such an ambitious project will require improved logistics to ensure delivery of the huge quantities of biomass from ports such as Tyne, Hull and Immingham to the Drax Power Station, near Selby, hence the new wagon which has been built by rolling stock experts WH Davis.

After conversion Drax will generate electricity with biomass as the primary source of fuel making the plant one of the biggest sustainable power generators in the world. The wagons are part of an investment of up to £700 million by the group that includes boiler modifications and new biomass receipt, storage and handling facilities at Drax Power Station, as well as developments further upstream in the biomass supply chain.

The power station’s first biomass converted generating unit began operating in April; a second will follow next year and a third by 2016, crucially dependant on securing contracts for sufficient biomass supplies, with each burning approximately 2.3 million tonnes of sustainable biomass a year.

The properties of the fuel itself are radically different from coal, it is a third lighter but susceptible to rain, a problem solved so far by retrofitting roof components to old, open coal wagons. The differences in weight etc. meant that a complete redesign to produce a totally new type of wagon was necessary. To produce a vehicle capable of carrying the maximum amount of fuel, Lloyds had to squeeze control equipmen