ClientEarth objects to Drax gas turbine plans

ClientEarth has objected to Drax’s plants for a new four gas turbines at its Selby power plant on the grounds that approval for the project will make it harder for the government to meet its climate change commitments.

The campaigning environmental law charity has submitted a written objection to Drax Power’s plans to convertup to two of the plant’s existing coal-fired generating units with four combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs).

ClientEarth claims that the 3GW Repower project, if approved, risks locking in high-carbon energy on the grid until 2050 as it will have an operational lifespan of at least 25 years.

It claims the new turbines will nearly treble the units’ generation capacity and could lead to a significant increase in their greenhouse gas emissions.

And the charity says that the application would increase the UK’s consented gas generation capacity to 18GW, three times the 6GW that the government says will be needed until 2035.

Drax has submitted the CCGT plant to the Planning Inspectorate as a “nationally significant” infrastructure project under the 2008 Planning Act. The inspectorate is due to hold a series of public hearings into the application next month.

Sam Hunter-Jones , climate accountability lawyer for ClientEarth, said: “The UK government claims to be a climate leader, yet if major energy projects such as this from Drax are granted planning consent, the UK will risk carbon lock-in that would seriously undermine its ability to meet its climate change commitments.

“The government’s own forecasts published this year show that the UK does not need a major roll out of new large-scale gas generation capacity. There is evidence that even those low forecasts overestimate the level of need and are also not sufficient to meet the UK’s decarbonisation targets.

“Approving this new gas capacity risks either throwing the UK’s decarbonisation off course, or locking in redundant infrastructure resulting in significant environmental impacts and costs to the taxpayer.”

“The government needs to base its plans on the future not the past. With the cost of renewables and other smart technologies dropping year on year, approving a fleet of large-scale gas plants makes no economic sense.”

Hunter-Jones added that the project will only be able to operate in the future if it is fitted with carbon capture and storage technology which he described as “economically unviable”.

Andy Koss, chief executive of Drax Power, defended the company’s plan and said gas has a long-term role as a back up to renewable energy.

“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 per cent 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.”