Drax gets planning go ahead for £2bn BECCS project

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho has given the green light for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) operations at Drax Power Station.

The company has secured a development consent order (DCO) for the £2 billion project, paving the way for construction to begin.

Drax plans to invest billions to develop two BECCS units at its North Yorkshire power station which it states could remove 8Mt of carbon from the atmosphere per year.

The government’s decision letter, written by head of energy planning David Wagstaff on behalf of Coutinho, states that the “proposed development would make a meaningful contribution to meeting the urgent need for carbon capture storage (“CCS”) infrastructure to support the transition to Net Zero by 2050”.

The government’s approval follows recommendations to green light the scheme by the Planning Inspectorate’s examiners.

The Examining Authority’s report, submitted to government three months ago, concludes that the scheme is in line with the UK’s National Policy Statements on energy.

The authority was also satisfied with the proposed site selection, layout and technologies as well as with Drax’s assertion that the plant will achieve a 95% capture efficiency rate.

The decision comes on the same day that Drax released its latest research on the value of the scheme.

Compiled by Baringa, on behalf of Drax, the research states that Drax’s proposals for BECCS could save the UK up to £15 billion in whole economy costs between 2030 and 2050.

Baringa’s findings also state that without BECCS at Drax, meeting carbon reduction targets is more complicated and expensive for the UK government and carbon savings would be needed in other sectors.

Will Gardiner, chief executive of Drax Group, said: “Climate change is the greatest challenge we face and the UK needs to use every option available to reduce carbon emissions and reach Net Zero as urgently as possible.

“This research shows BECCS at Drax Power Station offers the most cost-effective, straightforward and efficient way to help the country meet climate targets and could save billions of pounds, remove millions of tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere and support the UK’s energy security.

“To hit the UK’s annual carbon removal target, we need to build BECCS at Drax Power Station.”

The report also concludes that the implementation of a bridging mechanism between the end of Drax’s renewable contracts in 2027 and the potential start of BECCS operations could save around £2 billion over the period, if gas prices remained similar to the current winter period.

As reported in December last year, Drax claims that the mechanism is needed to “provide multi-year certainty allowing Drax to secure long-term biomass supplies and continue to support energy security via flexible and reliable renewable biomass operations in advance of BECCS”.

In August 2023, the UK government published a Biomass Strategy which set out its position on the use of biomass in the UK’s plans for delivering net zero.

The Biomass Strategy outlined the potential “extraordinary” role which biomass can play across the economy in power, heating and transport, including a priority role for BECCS, which is seen as critical for meeting net zero plans due to its ability to provide large-scale carbon dioxide removals.

Meanwhile, Drax is also awaiting the conclusion of an Ofgem investigation into Drax Power Limited’s annual biomass profiling reporting under the Renewables Obligation scheme.

The probe was launched after a BBC documentary raised questions about whether the wood that Drax had procured from Canada was sustainably sourced.

Drax has always said that the wood it uses is sustainable.