"Wind accounted for 30 per cent of the electricity generated in the UK last year. But its expansion does not abolish the need for gas or biomass plants that can be turned on when they are needed."
"A decarbonisation study last year by the National Engineering Policy Centre concluded that the UK may need to build more gas-fired plants to maintain generating capacity in future. The official National Energy System Operator, which has warned of the pace of change being “at the limit of what is feasible”, supported Drax’s retention on the grounds of energy security."
"The government has tacitly conceded the point. Rather than treating Drax as a renewable energy source in a conventional financial way, the deal is quite like a capacity contract with a gas-fired operator. Drax will stay in service but it will not operate at more than half of today’s levels and “excess profits” will be clawed back."
Carbon capture is like promising to clean the water after shitting in the pool. Much better not to shit there in the first place.
Drax and the others know that, but suck up all the government cash they can anyway.
Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of that con.
The Drax Power Station "sustainable" scam has still a bright future, because there no alternatives for it.
https://www.ft.com/content/6c9e5d0e-4e7a-4e9d-bae7-11069a6bd...
"Wind accounted for 30 per cent of the electricity generated in the UK last year. But its expansion does not abolish the need for gas or biomass plants that can be turned on when they are needed."
"A decarbonisation study last year by the National Engineering Policy Centre concluded that the UK may need to build more gas-fired plants to maintain generating capacity in future. The official National Energy System Operator, which has warned of the pace of change being “at the limit of what is feasible”, supported Drax’s retention on the grounds of energy security."
"The government has tacitly conceded the point. Rather than treating Drax as a renewable energy source in a conventional financial way, the deal is quite like a capacity contract with a gas-fired operator. Drax will stay in service but it will not operate at more than half of today’s levels and “excess profits” will be clawed back."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/nov/09/drax-still-...