Government 'unlikely' to hit carbon capture target without Drax plan, ministers warned

The Government currently aims to capture 20-30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030.

Drax argues its project will be able to contribute at least 8 million tonnes to that target, as it eyes two potential routes to secure Government funding to press ahead with the project.

It comes after ministers in March left Drax out of the first wave of funding for carbon capture projects, opting to focus on companies in Teesside and the North West.

“It was a surprise, I think, both to us at Drax and everyone in the Humber region that we weren’t selected,” Mr Gwilliam told The Yorkshire Post in an exclusive interview.

“I think as a consequence of being not only one of the most mature carbon capture storage projects in the country, and probably the most mature greenhouse gas removal project in the country, it's probably unlikely the Government will be able to meet that target [of CO2 removals] without deploying BECCS at Drax.”

It comes after the energy regulator Ofgem confirmed in May that it is investigating the company’s green credentials which are the basis for the billions of Government subsidies it receives.

This follows a BBC Panorama investigation which suggested that Drax was using wood from some of the world’s most precious forests, rather than the sustainable wood pellets which the company uses in its power station outside of Selby.

Last week ministers confirmed that Drax could lose subsidies if they are found by the regulator to not be in compliance with the Government scheme.

Officials revealed yesterday that the future of biomass in the UK will likely be revealed before Parliament rises next week, with the Government’s biomass strategy set to be published to give clarity on the future of companies such as Drax.

Grant Shapps, the Energy Secretary, visited Drax power station on Wednesday along with Claire Holmes, the party’s candidate for the Selby and Ainsty by-election.

Mr Gwilliam told The Yorkshire Post that the company felt it was getting the “right signals” from ministers over the future of its BECCS project, but that they will need to work “very closely” together over the next couple of months so that the company can start deploying again after it paused its investment.

Currently the company is looking to get funding through either the expansion of the “Track-1” projects announced in March, or onto a separate Track-2 list.

“For a long time, the UK has been seen as the flagbearer globally in the fight against climate change,” he said.

“Things like setting into legislation Net Zero targets, initiating competition for CCS, we were well ahead of the pack and quite often looked upon in envy around the world as ‘this is how you do the fight against climate change.’

“Other countries are catching us, other countries have caught us. They’ve put in very simple economic frameworks that make deploying this sort of technology elsewhere attractive.

“For the UK, the framework that we set up is world-leading and is just taking a longer time to materialise than in those other countries.”

However, he acknowledged that further delay could lead to a “danger that we erode our global leadership positions”.