Member Article

Drax secure £100m green investment

Power station operator Drax has secured a £100m loan from the Government’s Green Investment Bank to develop a biomass-fuelled electricity generator.

Drax already has £223m as a foundation for the investment, and this latest investment will help to fulfil the plans.

Paul Hamer, chair of the Leeds City Region Green Economy Panel, said: “The announcement clearly demonstrates the scale of investor confidence in the Leeds City Region’s energy sector. Together with Government’s decision earlier in the year to shortlist Drax for £1bn of carbon capture and storage investment, the role that Leeds City Region electricity generators will play in reducing emissions from the UK energy mix is becoming increasingly clear.”

Tony Quinlan, Finance Director of Drax said: “We are very pleased to have successfully secured this financing. We believe it is a clear demonstration of support from the investment community for our biomass strategy. We particularly welcome the involvement of the UK Green Investment Bank.

“We are making very good progress with our project to transform the largest coal plant in the UK into an electricity generator fuelled predominantly by sustainable biomass. The benefits are multiple, from securing jobs at Drax and across the UK in the supply chain to providing low carbon, cost effective and reliable renewable power for the consumer.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .