UK: Drax stops plan to use biomass, puts national CO2 targets at risk

Drax, the UK’s biggest power station, has chosen to withdraw a pledge to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 17.5 per cent (3.5Mta), despite investing GBP80m in a processing unit which would have allowed it to replace a significant proportion of the coal it uses with biomass and buying 2Mt of biomass. The decision is due to the fact that the utility believes it is cheaper to continue burning coal alone. At present, it costs Drax GBP40/MWh to produce electricity from biomass, much higher than the GBP31/MWh for that produced by burning coal.

In an interview with The Times, Dorothy Thompson, Drax’s CEO said that the decision was the result of the British government not providing sufficient subsidies to make biomass competitive with coal.

Ms Thompson said: “We are not confident that the [subsidy] regime for what is one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy will support operating the biomass unit at full load. The UK is missing out massively on the potential for renewable energy from biomass. We want to run in a low carbon way but policy is against us.”

The decision has in a stroke, put the government’s goal of increasing the proportion of electricity produced in the UK from renewable sources from 5.5 per cent to 30 per cent by 2020 out of reach. There are wider implications, given that a shift towards renewable energy is the cornerstone of the move towards a less carbon intensive economy. The UK is committed under a legally binding target to cut the country’s emissions by 34 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050 (The Times).