Drax set to be a world leader in use of renewable energy

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, chief executive Dorothy Thompson said the first of the units to be converted to biomass is working “beautifully” and is producing enough electricity to power a city the size of Leeds.

She launched a strong defence of biomass against critics who question the environmental credentials of shipping wood products from around the world to be burnt in Britain.

Ms Thompson also warned of “a serious risk that the UK could have a very tight supply situation in electricity by the middle of the decade” and welcomed Government plans to reform the energy market, which are being debated this week.

Drax raised funding last year for its programme to convert three of six units at the station to burn biomass instead of coal. The company converted the first unit on April 2 after two years of technical trials.

Depending on Government policy, Drax will convert all six to biomass, said Ms Thompson.

She added: “We think we are a key part of the UK achieving its renewable targets. We are low cost, secure renewable. We think of ourselves as being a perfect complement to wind.”

Once the three units are converted by the second half of 2014, Drax will be burning 7-8m tonnes of biomass a year and will contribute to around 10 per cent of Government clean energy targets for 2020, said Ms Thompson.

She defended the use of the energy source, which Drax imports from North America, southern Europe and the Baltics, mostly in the form of wood pellets.

Ms Thompson said Drax burns low-value forest products, such as residues and thinnings from commercial forests.

She said: “We ‘carbon footprint’ all the biomass we burn and from field or forest right through to furnace and we only burn biomass that delivers major carbon savings. We also only source our biomass from sustainable sources.

“In respect of wood, what we take from is sustainable forest. We take from forest where the rate of growth is greater or equal to the amount of timber being taken out.

“When we burn it, you know in short order that forest is going to recapture the carbon because it’s actually growing faster or equal to the rate of extraction.”

Ms Thompson said the carbon footprint of shipping biomass from the east coast of America is very similar per tonne to transportation by truck from Scotland.

The company can transport 50,000-60,000 tonnes at a time via ocean freight, but would need around 1,600 trucks to shift the same amount, said a company spokeswoman.

Under the Government’s subsidy programme for renewable energy, the company would not have the ability to pay more for biomass than farmers would earn from growing food crops, nor would it want to promote competition between food and fuel, the spokeswoman added.

Ms Thompson said: “The UK is leading across Europe on introducing mandatory standards for biomass only to be used when it’s delivering major carbon savings and procured from a sustainable source.”

She has been at the forefront of efforts to promote the benefits of biomass to the Government and has overseen the investment of millions of pounds in research and development in Yorkshire.

Drax had to win support from the Government for the scheme to be a success. The company also won significant support from its shareholders.

Ms Thompson described biomass as a cost-effective renewable that can deliver lower-cost energy to the end consumer and also provide valuable security of supply.

She said: “The market is very challenging for most electricity generators. It’s very difficult right now to encourage new investment in electricity generation because of that.

“Because there’s a lack of investment at the moment in new generation in the UK... there’s a serious risk that the UK could have a very tight supply situation in electricity by the middle of the decade.”

Ms Thompson is supportive of efforts to create a capacity market, included in the Government’s package of reforms to the energy sector.

The reforms, which are debated in the third reading of the Energy Bill this week, are designed to incentivise the provision of generation capacity to ensure that there is enough to keep the country’s lights on. The reforms also create greater certainty for investors through guaranteed revenues.

Ms Thompson, asked about the potential of shale gas, said: “We should benefit from the natural resources available to us.”

@bernardginns