Drax firm plans three new plants

Bio-mass plants are planned for sites in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire

An electricity generating company is planning to build three large bio-mass power stations across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire costing £2bn.

Drax Group, which runs the Drax power station near Selby, aims to run three so-called green power plants at Hull, Immingham and one other site.

The third site could be close to the existing Drax plant.

The firm said the three plants would generate 900 megawatts of power for the national grid.

Bio-mass power plants generate electricity by burning a range of fuels including energy crops, wood chips and other material from renewable sources, the company said.

Carbon footprint

And the firm said planning applications for the plants at Hull and Immingham have already begun.

Company officials said construction of the first of the three plants is expected for late 2010 with power flowing from the unspecified site by 2014.

Drax chief executive Dorothy Thompson said: “We believe our venture into dedicated bio-mass-fired generation underpins our commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of electricity generation from the continued, but necessary, reliance on fossil fuels, whilst delivering secure and reliable supplies of electricity.”

Ms Thompson said that based on current estimates, once all three plants were operational, Drax would be responsible for supplying at least 15% of the UK’s renewable power and up to 10% of total UK electricity.

Greenpeace chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said: “Biomass plants can help us in the fight against climate change, but only if they make the most of the waste heat they produce and use fuel from carefully chosen sources.

“Otherwise they’re cutting down trees, shipping them across the world and then throwing away the energy they get from them.

“Drax already owns the single most polluting power station in the UK, and if they fail to get the technology right on these power plants they could be making their carbon footprint bigger, not smaller.”

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