Drax bosses say £702m Spanish deal will make the group a national player

The deal for the low-carbon and renewable assets for £702 million will increase Drax’s electricity generation capacity by 60 per cent, meaning the company will now provide enough power for the equivalent of more than 8.3 million homes.

Will Gardiner, Chief Executive Officer of Drax Group, said: “As a British energy company, we are very proud to be the new owners of these critically important power stations across England and Scotland. For decades Drax has been at the heart of our energy system and now we’re going to play a bigger role than ever.

“We are investing in Great Britain by acquiring this portfolio of flexible, low-carbon and renewable generation assets. They complement our existing activities by providing very flexible power which not only keeps the lights on for thousands of households, but also provides crucial system support services to the grid, maintaining secure supplies and enabling more renewables like wind and solar onto the system”.

The deal adds 2.6GW of generation capacity to Drax’s portfolio, reinforcing its position at the heart of the Great Britain’s energy system. Drax Group now has a national footprint with operations in Scotland, Wales, Yorkshire, Lancashire, London, the East of England, the East Midlands and the South East of England.

Drax Power Station in Selby, North Yorkshire, is the biggest renewable generator in the UK. Over the last decade Drax has converted two-thirds of what was Great Britain’s biggest coal fired power station to run on sustainable biomass, creating the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Drax Group is now the Great Britain’s fifth largest non-domestic energy supplier and the biggest supplier of renewable power to UK businesses.