Drax Group PLC on Wednesday praised the UK government’s update on the development of carbon capture utilisation and storage clusters.

The Yorkshire-based renewable energy company said that the government will provide ‘further policy support’ for the development of the technology, which can capture and make use of the high concentrations of carbon dioxide emitted by industrial activities.

The government’s announcement reiterated its ambition to deploy deploy at least 5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas removals per year by 2030. This will potentially increase to 23 MtCO2/year by 2035, and 81 MtCO2/year by 2050.

The government also published its latest position on the design of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage business models. This includes a 15-year contract for differences with a dual payment mechanism linked to both low-carbon electricity and negative emissions.

Chief Executive Officer Will Gardiner said: ‘Today’s announcements by the government will further progress the development of CCUS clusters in the UK and are an important step forward in facilitating the deployment of large-scale BECCS’.

‘BECCS has the potential to deliver carbon removals whilst generating renewable power and installing this technology at Drax power station will enable it to continue to play a critical role in the UK’s energy security, creating and supporting thousands of jobs in the Humber region and helping the country meet its net zero targets’, Gardiner added.

The government announcement included an update regarding the Track-1 and Track-2 carbon capture projects, which could support BECCS at Drax power station and other CCS projects in the Humber region. The government has agreed a head of terms deal with the operator of East Coast Cluster CO2 transport and storage network, and is now awaiting the best time to launch an expansion process for the East Coast Cluster in 2024. It has also confirmed plans for an initial ‘anchor phase’ of capture projects connecting to the Acorn and Viking clusters, which will target projects for deployment in 2028 to 2029.

Shares in Drax Group were down 0.3% at 472.19 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon.

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