Power station operator Drax has won further contracts to supply electricity to the national grid from its hydro-electric schemes in Scotland.
But the London-listed company now won’t bid for electricity supply contracts for a proposed gas-fired power station in Yorkshire until a judicial review is completed. Drax has also placed its remaining two coal-fired turbines on the site under review after they came away from the latest auction without a deal.
Energy secretary Andrea Leadsom granted planning permission in October for Drax to build Europe’s largest gas-fired power station on its existing site at Selby in North Yorkshire. She went against the advice from the Planning Directorate, which ruled the project would have “significant adverse effects” in the UK Government’s battle against climate change.
Last week environmental law firm ClientEarth triggered a judicial review at the high court in London. The firm claimed the site would produce 75% of the UK power sector’s carbon dioxide emissions if Drax installed its four proposed gas turbines.
Today Drax revealed it won’t bid for any contracts to supply electricity to the grid using the proposed gas turbines until it finds out the result of the judicial review. The company had planned to bid for a contract in next month’s auction.
Drax said it would now also “assess options” for its two remaining coal-fired turbines on the site “alongside discussions with National Grid, Ofgem and the UK Government”. The company has already converted most of its power station at Selby to burn biomass instead of coal, ahead of the UK Government’s coal ban in 2025, but has come under criticism from environmental groups including Biofuelwatch for chopping down trees in the southern US.
In the latest auction results, Drax won contracts for its hydro-electric schemes and existing gas-fired power stations – which it bought from ScottishPower in 2018 for £700 million – covering the months between October 2022 and September 2023. The deals are worth £15 million and come on top of contracts already in place up to September 2022.
