Drax Group (Drax) has awarded Worley a services contract for the first two carbon capture units at its power station in North Yorkshire, UK. The two carbon capture units are expected to capture approximately eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, strengthening Drax’s purpose to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future.

The carbon capture units will be integrated into two of the four existing biomass power generating units, which have a total capacity of 2,580 MW. The carbon capture units will incorporate Drax’s negative emissions technology known as Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).

BECCS combines renewable electricity generated from biomass and carbon capture storage to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. BECCS has been successfully piloted by Drax.

Under the contract, Worley will provide front-end engineering and design (FEED) services for the project. The services will be executed by Worley’s team in the UK. Upon final investment decision and selection by the UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for the project to progress, Drax and Worley are expected to negotiate the subsequent detailed engineering and build phases of the project.

This services contract follows the pre-FEED phase of the project which was recently completed by Worley.

Worley’s partnership with Drax is strategically significant and demonstrates how Worley is supporting our customers adapt and decarbonize existing assets.

“As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we are pleased that Drax has engaged Worley in this important carbon capture project. Our partnership with Drax is one of the ways we’re helping our customers adapt existing assets and decarbonize industrial clusters, whilst also supporting Worley’s strategic focus on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world,” said Chris Ashton, Chief Executive Officer, Worley.