Drax Group, Equinor, and National Grid Ventures teamed up and signed a memorandum of understanding to explore possible opportunities to scale-up a trial carbon capture and storage project at Drax. Drax is currently Britain’s largest coal generator so this is good news. Its partnership with Norway’s state energy giant and National Grid (Equinor and National Grid Ventures) will bring about the world’s first carbon negative power station within the next ten years.

The project includes a large-scale carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) network and a hydrogen production facility. It will be built in the Humber region of England by the mid-2020s. The partners will also explore the potential development of other strategic economic opportunities for hydrogen in the region.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group chief executive, said:

The Committee on Climate Change was clear – the UK needs both bioenergy with CCS and hydrogen production at scale by 2030 to achieve a ‘net zero’ carbon economy. This partnership is committed to meeting this challenge putting Great Britain at the heart of the global energy revolution. With Drax’s carbon negative power station, the Humber region could lead the world in new technologies that can deliver for the climate and the economy, helping to create a cleaner environment for future generations whilst creating new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses. We’re excited to be working with National Grid Ventures and Equinor on this project – for decades the Humber has been a strategically important industrial cluster for the UK – it has the skills, industrial capability as well as offshore storage to transform itself into a cutting-edge low carbon hub.

Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor executive vice president for marketing, midstream, and processing, said:

As a global leader in CCS and a major gas supplier to the UK for many decades, we are committed to helping shape sustainable solutions for a low carbon future. We are pleased to be partnering with Drax and National Grid Ventures in looking at how the Humber region can be a launch pad for wider decarbonization in the UK economy and be an example for others to learn from. Globally we must see substantial decarbonization of industry and energy in the years ahead, and we believe CCS and hydrogen must play a significant role in this.

Jon Butterworth, National Grid Ventures chief operating officer, global transmission, said:

We all agree that we must act now to start delivering a ‘net-zero’ carbon economy. That’s why we’re delighted to be working together with Equinor and Drax on a project of such great potential for the UK and the Humber region and leveraging our skills and expertise to enable this transition. We have seen rapid progress in decarbonizing energy through established technologies such as wind power, solar and electricity interconnectors. CCUS and hydrogen create a new pathway to greater decarbonization of the energy system and provide the platform for decarbonizing our other areas of our economy which will be to the benefit of current and future generations.

The companies believe that the low-carbon gas will form the basis of a “hydrogen economy” from the mid-2020s. The low-carbon gas they will produce at their new plant can be used in heating, heavy industry and as a transport fuel.