Drax to proceed with biomass conversion as it welcomes Government subsidy reforms

Drax is to push ahead with plans to convert a fourth unit from coal to biomass after the Government confirmed plans to reform subsidies for biomass conversion schemes.

The energy giant said  it welcomed the government’s response to the consultation on cost control for further biomass conversions under the Renewable Obligation scheme.

The news has allayed the energy giant’s fears that government proposals to cap levels of support available through the ROC scheme would hinder its plans to convert further units at its plant to biomass.

Drax said it plans to complete the work on this unit as part of a major planned outage in the second half of 2018, before returning to service in late 2018.

Will Gardiner, chief executive of Drax Group, said: “We welcome the Government’s support for further sustainable biomass generation at Drax, which will allow us to accelerate the removal of coal from the electricity system, replacing it with flexible low carbon renewable electricity.”

“We look forward to implementing a cost-effective solution for our fourth biomass unit at Drax.”

The European Parliament also voted on its Renewable Energy Directive II. Gardiner added: “Biomass is playing a vital role in decarbonising our electricity system and providing sustainable, reliable low carbon power for millions of homes and businesses. We are pleased the European Parliament has recognised the important part biomass plays and we look forward to the next stage of the legislative process and further progress on the introduction of robust, workable sustainability criteria.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close