Government backs carbon capture pilot at Drax incubation facility

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has awarded Promethean Particles funding for its carbon capture project at Drax’s Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) incubation site.

The new carbon capture project, Project MONET, will test metal-organic frameworks (MOF) based Negative Emissions Technology.

The project was awarded support from DESNZ through Call 2 of the Government Department’s CCUS Innovation 2.0 competition, which aims to accelerate the development of next generation CCUS technology.

Drax has a strong relationship with Promethean and in 2022 collaborated with the company at the North Yorkshire incubation site to test MOF-based carbon capture.

Drax’s incubation site has also previously hosted a carbon capture project by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Leeds-based company C-Capture.

Drax plans to use MHI’s carbon capture technology for its bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) power plants, including its proposals to develop two BECCS units at its power station.

Jason Shipstone, chief innovation officer, Drax Group, said: “Congratulations to all at Promethean Particles and Project MONET on securing this award from DESNZ.

“We have a strong relationship with Promethean and we are pleased to continue to support their work at our CCUS incubation site at Drax Power Station.

“Scientific consensus is increasingly clear – the planet cannot solve the climate crisis without carbon removals.

“Providing we secure the right support from the UK Government, our ambition is to harness what we have learned piloting carbon removals technologies in North Yorkshire and create two BECCS units at Drax Power Station which could remove 8Mt of CO₂ per annum from our atmosphere.

“We are excited by the opportunities for MOF-based carbon capture and this new project will help us better understand the performance and future applications for the technology.”

James Stephenson, chief executive officer of Promethean, said: “We are extremely proud that project MONET has been chosen by DESNZ as one of the winners of this competition.

“Carbon removal is now a necessity in limiting the devastating effects of climate change. MOF-based carbon capture can help enable broader adoption of this critical technology.

“Our manufacturing technology uniquely enables the production of these exciting materials at the scale and cost necessary to make them a viable industrial solution.

“I would like to thank the Drax team for their continued support of our technological advancement.”