GENERATE PROSPECTUS - Flipbook - Page 22
Unlimited opportunities in the East of England
COMBATING
CLIMATE CHANGE
project management skills, EDF Energy’s
experts are identifying ways of decarbonising
homes and businesses in Leiston.
DEVELOPING LOW CARBON
TECHNOLOGIES
Once operational, Sizewell C will provide
3.2GW of reliable, low carbon electricity each
year for 60 years. This is enough to power
around 6 million homes a year and, on current
projections, will be enough to meet 7% of the
UK’s total annual energy needs. That will save
around 9 million tonnes of carbon emissions
every year, compared to a similar sized gasfired power station, so helping us reach our
Net Zero target by 2050.
Sizewell is not only in an area of outstanding
natural beauty but also overlooks an
important marine habitat. That’s why, over
the last 10 years, EDF Energy has worked
with scientists from Cefas, in Lowestoft, to
better understand this environment. Using
fundamental research from Cefas, EDF
Energy aims to develop Sizewell C in the most
sustainable way possible.
EDF Energy is also looking at ways
of supporting a wider energy hub of
businesses that are developing low carbon
technologies with the potential to deliver on
the Government’s 10 Point Plan for a Green
Industrial Revolution. In November 2020, it
announced that it was looking for commercial
partners to work on two clean-energy related
demonstrator projects. These will test the idea
of using spare low carbon heat from Sizewell
B to create green hydrogen and to facilitate
Direct Air Capture (DAC) of atmospheric CO2.
EDF is also committed to reducing the
impact of Sizewell C’s construction on the
environment and improving biodiversity
around the site. It has already designated
more than 250 hectares of land for wildlife
as part its plans. That includes converting
over 150 hectares of arable land into native
grassland since 2015.
At the same time, EDF is working with
neighbouring Leiston on a project to make
it one of the first Net Zero towns in the UK.
The project is led by a team of community
representatives and local councils, with
support from engineers and a number of
specialist consultants. As well as providing
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Unlimited opportunities in the East of England
ADDING DAC TO OUR
EXISTING PLANS FOR
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
AT SIZEWELL C MEANS
WE CAN GO EVEN
FURTHER TO REDUCING
CARBON EMISSIONS
Julia Pyke, SZC Director of Financing
The green hydrogen demonstrator project
aims to run an electrolyser with the potential
to produce up to 800kg of hydrogen a day. It
would then use this in vehicles and machines
on the Sizewell C construction site to reduce
the use of diesel and its associated carbon
emissions. EDF Energy is also working with the
Freeport East consortium and other partners
in the region to see if it can supply sufficient
hydrogen to meet their zero-carbon transport
ambitions
In May 2021, EDF Energy announced that
Sizewell C has been awarded £250,000 by the
Government to lead a consortium of engineers
and carbon capture experts at the University
of Nottingham, Strata Technology, Atkins,
and Doosan Babcock on a design study for a
unique DAC system which runs on low carbon
heat powered by the proposed new nuclear
power station.
The Direct Air Capture demonstrator
project will test the viability of using
some of the power station’s thermal
output to reduce atmospheric
CO2 and so potentially become
carbon negative in operation. If
the demonstrator is successful,
EDF Energy envisages establishing
a large-scale DAC plant on the
Sizewell C site. If your business has
experience in these or other relevant
low carbon technologies, please
contact the EDF Energy Innovation
team.
Source for data on Sizewell, the Sizewell C
Consortium and Ernst & Young
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