Drax Power Limited has awarded Alstom an engineering, procurement and construction contract to build the main processing works for what is believed to be the largest biomass co-firing project in the world – the 4,000 MW Drax power station in North Yorkshire (UK).

Over the last five years, Drax has developed the capability to co-fire renewable biomass materials with coal and has set itself the target to produce 10 per cent of its output from co-firing - the equivalent output of around 500 wind turbines - which will reduce its CO2 emissions by over 2 million tonnes each year. As part of this commitment to tackle climate change, Alstom will receive, handle, store and process various biomass materials ready for direct injection into the boilers of the largest, cleanest and most efficient coal-fired power station in the UK, meeting some 7 per cent of the country’s electricity needs.
Underpinning Alstom’s position as a world leader in delivering biomass co-firing solutions worldwide, this contract, worth 63 million euros ($96.71 million), was awarded following a competitive tender process, and marks the first major project for Alstom at the Drax power plant. Work will begin immediately to prepare the site for construction. Commissioning of phase one of the project will be completed towards the end of 2009.
In other developments, Alstom’s wind subsidiary Ecotècnia has signed a frame agreement to supply around 300 MW worth of wind turbines to Iberdrola Renewables, marking Alstom’s first large agreement of this kind in wind energy since it acquired Ecotècnia in November 2007.
Under the terms of the agreement, worth around $466.5 million, Alstom will supply Iberdrola Renewables with the turbine models Eco 74, Eco 80 and Eco 80 2.0, totaling around 300 MW, over a period of four years.
Philippe Joubert, Alstom executive vice president and president, power systems, said the agreement reflected the confidence that Iberdrola Renewables, the world leader in the wind industry, had in Alstom’s renewable energy technology.
“In the wake of the EU’s call for a 20 per cent share of renewables in overall energy consumption by 2020, we expect an ever-increasing demand for Alstom’s wind turbines in the years to come,” Joubert was quote as saying.
Also earlier this year, Alstom figured in another milestone through its subsidiary Ecotècnia, which installed its largest and most powerful wind turbine in Barcelona. With its 100 m rotor diameter, the new Eco 100 turbine has a power output of 3 MW. Since its inception by a group of engineers in 1981 in Barcelona (Spain), Ecotècnia has installed over 1,500 MW of cumulated capacity in seven countries (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, India, Cuba and Japan).
Ecotècnia has equipped or is equipping over 72 wind farms; over 50 of which are located in Spain. Among the largest are the wind farms of Las Loras (104 MW), Páramo de Poza (100 MW) and Montes de Cierzo (60 MW) in Spain, and Ennese in Italy (78 MW). Ecotècnia has also developed a wind farm construction activity in Spain that contributes to generating turbine sales and is a player in the Spanish solar photovoltaic market with over 10MWp installed.
The acquisition of Ecotècnia has consolidated Alstom’s position as the company with the broadest and most complete range of products and systems in power generation, including gas, coal, hydro, wind, solar and conventional islands for nuclear power plants. This acquisition will strengthen Alstom’s offer in renewable energies, including hydro power where Alstom is the worldwide leader.