The future of Drax, Britain’s largest power plant

IF YOU want a monument to Britain’s energy transition, look no further than the 12 smoke-stained cooling towers of Drax power station, which loom over the north Yorkshire countryside. Built close to the now-dormant Selby coalfield, which once delivered the dirtiest fossil fuel to its furnaces, Drax is Britain’s largest power plant, generating around 4% of the country’s electricity supply. The final coal unit on the site closed in 2023; the vapour that now billows from the cooling towers is a byproduct of the process of burning wood pellets.

Drax’s role in the next stage of the transition is uncertain, however. The government is mulling whether to extend subsidies for the plant. The current arrangement, which tops up lump-sum payments to Drax if the wholesale electricity price falls below a set level, is due to end in 2027. An extension would give its owners, Drax Group, which also owns biomass plants in North America and hydropower plants in Scotland, time to fit the plant with a carbon-capture-and-storage unit.