UK power generator Drax holds ambitious plans to become the world's first carbon negative energy generator by 2030.

Its North Yorkshire plant is powered by sustainably sourced biomass and coal which generates electricity for the grid. The power station was first opened in 1974. 

Since 2012 the company has been converting its generating units to solely burn biomass. It will convert its remaining two coal units to biomass by early 2021.

Drax then aims to use carbon capture and storage technology to remove carbon emissions from the plant. 

It hopes to have built its CCS project at its 2580-megawatt (2.58GW) North Yorkshire power station by the end of 2027. The North Yorkshire Drax power station is considered the largest CO2 emitter in the UK. 

On Monday, Australian engineering firm Worley announced it had been awarded a contract to design, plan, cost, and come up with the construction schedule of the CCS project. 

"As a global professional services company headquartered in Australia, we are pleased that Drax has engaged Worley in this important carbon capture project," Worley's chief executive Chris Ashton said. 

"The contract supports Drax's goal of becoming a world-leading, carbon-negative company by 2030, whilst also supporting Worley's strategic focus on sustainability and delivering a more sustainable world." 

 

The CCS project will see flue gas containing CO2 leave the power generating process and then cooled and treated before entering an absorption tower. 

Inside the Absorption tower, a chemical reaction will extract the CO2 from the flue gas. The CO2 depleted flue gas will then be released into the atmosphere. 

The solvent containing the CO2 will then be heated in a re-boiler, which reverses the chemical reaction separating the CO2 from the solvent. 

The solvent will then be recirculated back into the carbon capture system and pure CO2 will be transported via pipeline for permanent storage in reservoirs in the North Sea.

The ambitious project will be a world first. 

Worley and Drax did not reveal the financial value of the contract.