Environmental law group submits objection to Drax gas power plans

An environmental law group has submitted an objection to Drax Power’s plans to build a gas power station on the Selby site.

ClientEarth argues the project would breach the government’s recommendations on climate change. A consultation process is underway for the re-powering of two coal fired units at Drax to gas powered and the second deadline for submissions to the planning inspectorate was on Friday. The power station is Europe’s biggest decarbonisation project.

The law group’s objection letter states: “ClientEarth objects to the Proposed Development in principle and disagrees with the Applicant that the Proposed Development’s balance of public benefits and adverse
impacts meets the relevant tests under the applicable legal framework.

“ClientEarth’s objection to the application is primarily due to:
a. the lack of need for the Proposed Development; and
b. the significant adverse impacts that would occur if the Proposed Development is built, including its major adverse climate impact or alternatively the risk of it becoming redundant infrastructure.”

A total of 46 submissions have been made in the second round of the process, including from Natural England and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

The objection is the first by the lawyers against a gas project in the UK. Sam Hunter Jones, a lawyer at the group, told The Guardian it had acted because the Drax scheme marked a tipping point in the amount of new gas planned by energy firms in the UK.

The planning inspectorate is expected to make its recommendations on the Drax project to the government next spring, with ministers to decide later in the year.

Andy Koss, Drax Power CEO said: “Our Repower project will deliver cost effective, high efficiency, flexible gas power to the grid. By reusing some of our existing infrastructure, including the grid connection and cooling towers, the development will be cost effective and very competitive. It could also enable us to stop using coal as soon as 2023, well ahead of the government’s 2025 deadline, reducing our emissions whilst playing a vital role in supporting the system as more renewables come online.

“The IPCC’s recent report stated that in order to meet our climate targets, up to 85% of power generation will need to come from renewables, by 2050. This means the remainder will need to be provided by other flexible, lower carbon technologies which are able to balance the system and keep the lights on. The Committee on Climate Change has also said there will be a need for flexible gas plants, in order to meet the generation gap in the 2020s – and recent analysis by Imperial College London for Electric Insights recognised the vital role of flexible power generation, like gas, in controlling the costs of supporting the system as more renewables come online.”

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