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Biomass takes record share of UK grid in May

  • Market: Biomass
  • 01/06/20

Biomass-fired power took a record share of the UK generation mix for the second consecutive month in May. Overall UK power demand continued to decline as the country remained in lockdown to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Biomass-fired generation accounted for 8.8pc of the UK power mix in May, up from 7.98pc in April — the previous record — and 6.9pc in May 2019, data from Drax and Imperial College London show.

Power demand has fallen since the government implemented lockdown measures on 23 March. Grid demand fell to an average of 25.76GW in May, down by 3.9pc from April and 22.2pc from March.

Biomass-fired generation rose to 2.33GW in May, up by 6.9pc on the month and 11pc on the year. Total biomass output reached 1.73TWh in May, up from 1.57TWh a month earlier and 1.56TWh in May 2019.

UK utility Drax had eight days of outages across its three 645MW biomass base-load units at Selby in North Yorkshire in May, and a further 11 days at its 645MW peak-load biomass-fired unit 4.

There were seven outage days at the three base-load units in May 2019, while unit 4 was offline for all of May.

And Czech-Slovak utility EPH's 396MW Lynemouth plant in northeast England ran at 84.24pc of capacity in May, down from 87.24pc in April, but up from 58.29pc in May 2019.

The UK has recorded no coal-fired generation since 9 April.

In February, the UK brought forward the phase-out of coal-fired power in Great Britain to October 2024 from 2025.

Gas remained the largest contributor to the UK grid in May, with 7.28GW, or 27.88pc, of the mix. Nuclear overtook wind to become the second largest source for the grid. Nuclear provided 5.54GW, taking a 20.96pc share, while wind generation averaged 5.42GW, accounting for 20.43pc.

UK generation mixGW
FuelMay-20May-19
Coal0.000.03
Gas7.3812.86
Solar2.522.04
Wind5.424.01
Hydro0.300.18
Pumped storage0.110.12
Imports and exports2.863.19
Biomass2.332.10
Nuclear5.546.09

Biomass share of UK generation mix %

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Enviva files restructuring plan

Enviva files restructuring plan

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Japan's Taketoyo biomass co-fired plant delayed further


03/09/24
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03/09/24

Japan's Taketoyo biomass co-fired plant delayed further

Tokyo, 3 September (Argus) — The 1.1GW coal and biomass co-fired Taketoyo No.5 generation unit, managed by Japan's largest power producer Jera, faces further delays in coming back on line after a fire in January. Jera today announced safety measures to prevent the same kind of incident that led to the fire but failed to comment on when the unit is expected to restart operations. It has been off line following the fire, linked to exploding dust from wood pellets, according to the company's investigation. The company aims to resume coal and wood pellets co-firing "as soon as possible", although it has yet to start repairs. Jera also plans to resume burning wood pellets imported from the US and Vietnam. The company new safety measures include slowing down the speed of wood pellet conveyors to reduce friction, partially installing air pressure conveying facilities dedicated to wood pellets and equipping explosion suppressor systems for injecting fire extinguishing agents. Slowing down the wood pellet conveyors can affect the co-firing rate with coal and biomass, although the electricity output will not change, the company said. The unit started commercial operations in August 2022 and burned 17pc of wood pellets with coal. The impact of the closure of the unit because of the incident is estimated to cost more than ¥10bn ($68.5mn) for the 2024-25 fiscal year ending 31 March, with around half of it being replacement fuel costs that are mainly LNG purchases. By Takeshi Maeda Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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India's Sail starts trialling biochar for steelmaking


29/08/24
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29/08/24

India's Sail starts trialling biochar for steelmaking

Mumbai, 29 August (Argus) — India's state-controlled Steel Authority of India (Sail) has started using biochar for steelmaking at its plant in Odisha state to bring down carbon emissions. Sail carried out a trial injection of biochar in blast furnace (BF) 1 of its Rourkela Steel Plant on 24 August, the steelmaker said. Biochar — produced by thermally decomposing biomass derived from plants and animals — can partially replace pulverised coal injection in BFs, Sail said. The company did not provide any specific timelines. Steelmakers in India are largely reliant on traditional BF technology, which uses coal as a reducing agent to produce iron and releases vast amounts of carbon in the process. Coal-based BFs account for 73pc of India's total operating iron-making capacity, according to data from Global Energy Monitor. There has also been a global push towards finding alternatives to fossil fuels in steelmaking, as countries commit to achieving net zero emissions. In recent days, at least four Japanese steelmakers have tested the use of biocarbon — widely known as biochar — as a replacement for fossil fuels in their electric arc furnaces. In July, Tata Steel also tested the use of biomass as a feedstock at its ferro-chrome unit in east India's Odisha state. Sail's Rourkela plant has a crude steel capacity of 4.2mn t/yr and produces hot-rolled and coil-rolled steel as well as some long products. The company's total crude steel production fell by 7pc to 4.68mn t in April-June, compared with the previous quarter. By Amruta Khandekar Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Japan’s wood pellet imports hit record high in July


29/08/24
News
29/08/24

Japan’s wood pellet imports hit record high in July

Tokyo, 29 August (Argus) — Japan's biomass imports rose in July on the year and on the month, with wood pellet imports hitting a record high. Japan imported 673,000t of wood pellets in July, up by 17pc on the year and by 27pc on the month, according to data released by the country's finance ministry. This was the largest amount on record. Vietnam was Japan's top supplier last month at 369,000t, higher by 45pc from a year earlier and by 60pc by June, which also marked a record high for shipments from the country. The second biggest supplier was Canada at 177,000t. The country's palm kernel shell (PKS) imports were 505,000t in July, higher by 3pc on the year and by 6pc on the month. Indonesia remained the largest supplier at 383,000t, followed by Malaysia at 118,000t. The 75MW Yatsushiro plant in Kumamoto prefecture started commercial operations in mid-June. The 50MW Ozu in Ehime prefecture was conducting test runs before becoming on line at the beginning of August. But the 52MW Ishikari-shinko plant in Hokkaido prefecture halted operations, after an explosion in mid-July. It has been unclear when its generation will be able to resume. By Takeshi Maeda Japan's imports by key sourcing countries 1,000t Wood Pellet Jul-24 Jun-24 Jul-23 m-o-m ± % y-o-y ± % Canada 176.7 120.5 181.4 46.7 -2.6 Thailand 0.0 8.0 0.0 -100.0 - Indonesia 0.4 31.3 10.9 -98.6 -96.0 Vietnam 368.6 230.0 253.4 60.3 45.5 Malaysia 21.1 58.1 9.0 -63.7 134.1 US 106.3 80.3 118.5 32.4 -10.3 Total 673.4 528.2 573.3 27.5 17.4 PKS Indonesia 383.1 321.4 379.3 19.2 1.0 Malaysia 118.1 142.0 108.9 -16.9 8.4 Sri Lanka 3.1 2.4 2.2 29.5 38.8 Vietnam 0.5 0.4 0.4 41.4 42.4 Thailand 0.1 11.4 0.1 -99.0 33.1 Others 0.5 0.6 0.2 -2.8 131.2 Total 505.4 478.1 491.2 5.7 2.9 Source: Finance Ministry Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Swedish Energy Agency opens BECCS reverse auction


28/08/24
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28/08/24

Swedish Energy Agency opens BECCS reverse auction

London, 28 August (Argus) — The Swedish Energy Agency has opened the first call for tenders in Sweden's state aid package for carbon capture and storage (CCS) from biomass through reverse auction. Beneficiaries granted the support will be allowed to sell such CCS credits, but the "the credits will be deducted from the state aid to avoid overcompensation", the Swedish Energy Agency told Argus in an emailed reply on 28 August. The call for proposals closes on 21 November 2024. State aid will be granted to beneficiaries for 15 years, for both capital expenditure and operating expenses, starting from when the first tonne of captured biogenic CO2 is permanently stored and verified. Such projects must be able to deliver geologically stored biogenic carbon dioxide no later than three years from the decision on the support, with the possibility of a two-year extension. The potential beneficiaries of the aid will be enterprises carrying out an activity in Sweden that emits biogenic CO2, and which implement biogenic CCS projects leading to negative CO2 emissions with a capacity to capture and store over 50,000 t/yr of biogenic CO2, the Swedish Energy Agency said. The total budget of the state aid scheme, approved by the European Commission in early July, is €3bn ($3.2bn) for distribution in 2026-46, to be awarded through bidding by 31 December 2028. By Marta Imarisio Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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