Subsidies urged to help power stations move away from coal

HUGE coal-fired power stations such as Drax and Eggborough could “switch off” if the Government does not provide the necessary subsidies to support their conversion to burning wood, an MP has warned.
The Drax power station in North YorkshireThe Drax power station in North Yorkshire
The Drax power station in North Yorkshire

Dan Byles, the Tory chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the environment, and a member of the Commons energy and climate change committee, said the UK “cannot afford” not to use biomass as a key source of energy over the coming years.

The issue is hugely important to Yorkshire, where more than 1,000 jobs are directly dependant upon the power stations stretching across “megawatt valley”.

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With the UK under massive pressure to cut carbon emissions, Drax has already announced plans to switch much of its activity to burning wood.

The Yorkshire Post revealed in March that Eggborough is also in the final stages of negotiations over switching its entire operation away from coal from 2014.

However, a final decision from the Government on the long-term subsidies available to the energy sector will not be made until later this year. The amount of public money available is crucial, because power stations say burning wood on a mass scale is far more expensive than coal-firing.

But Mr Byles quoted research which he said means the UK has little choice but to invest heavily in biomass as it switches to lower-carbon energy sources.

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Speaking at a hearing of the climate change committee, he said: “The Energy Technologies Institute has said that if we exclude biomass from the energy mix, we will be paying an extra £42bn a year to supply our energy needs in a de-carbonised manner by 2050.

“Surely this is something we can’t afford not to do?”

Calling for swift action, he went on: “Drax represents seven per cent of our electricity generation; Eggborough represents four per cent. They are going to switch off.

“These are real problems in generating power in the immediate, foreseeable future. If we don’t covert them to biomass, what are we going to do?”

The committee heard evidence from the RSPB, one of several charities which has warned about the potential cost to the planet of over-reliance on burning wood.

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Burning wooden pellets and other organic matter is widely accepted to be more environmentally-friendly than coal, as trees can be planted in the place of those which have been burnt to soak up the equivalent CO2.

However, expert witnesses made clear the environmental benefits will only be realised if the forests from where the wood is sourced are managed in a responsible way – difficult to certify when most biomass is imported from across the Atlantic.

Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson told the committee she is “absolutely confident” the millions of tonnes of wood pellets soon to be imported by her power station each year will be sustainably sourced.

Nonetheless, Harry Huyton, head of climate change for the RSPB, said plans for a massive increase in wood-burning in the UK go too far.

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“I don’t think we should be taking bio-energy out of the equation,” he said. “However we are saying the biomass electricity projections are too high.”

But Mr Byles insisted the UK has little choice but to push on.

“Waiting for some wonderful technological advance that might come some time in the next few decades is all very well, but as politicians we need to make sure the lights are going to be on in five, 10, 15 years time,” he said. “Government does not have time.

“Eggborough could make the decision to switch off this year if they don’t get the agreement to finance. These are decisions that can’t afford to wait.”

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Speaking after the hearing, a spokeswoman for Eggborough sough to play down any suggestion of the power station’s imminent closure.

“Like several other coal stations currently considering the potential to convert to biomass, Eggborough is looking forward to further details on the Government’s plans to support these crucial infrastructure projects which, we understand, will be released later in the year,” she said.

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