The UK’s once ‘dirtiest’ coal-fired power station Drax is set to receive approval for a multibillion-pound net-zero carbon capture plan from the UK government, according to a report from the Telegraph on Monday.
Despite green opposition, UK Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho is expected to approve a scheme to bolt two massive carbon capture plants onto the North Yorkshire plant’s four generating units, the Telegraph reported, potentially removing almost all of its carbon dioxide emissions.
The scheme has infuriated environmental activists who are already angered by Drax’s switch to wood from coal.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/01/06/coal-power-station-drax-approval-net-zero-carbon-capture/
The Telegraph said Coutinho is also due to launch a consultation into how best to extend the subsidy system under which Drax last year received £617 million from consumer bills.
The scheme terminates in 2027 so Coutinho will propose extending it into at least the 2030s, the Telegraph reported, keeping Drax in business for at least several years.
Reacting to the news, shares in Drax Group PLC were up 6.5% to 521.60 pence each in London on Monday late morning.
Just before Christmas, the Yorkshire-based renewable energy company called an update from the UK government on the development of carbon capture utilisation and storage clusters an ‘important step’ towards the deployment of large-scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
The government’s announcement reiterated its ambition to 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.
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