Drax | |
Company type | Public limited company |
Industry | Electrical power generation |
Founded | 2005 |
Headquarters | Drax, North Yorkshire, England, UK |
Key people | Andrea Bertone, Chair Will Gardiner, Chief Executive |
Products | Electrical power and byproducts of power product |
Revenue | £8,159.2 million (2022) [1] |
£469.4 million (2022) [1] | |
£82.5 million (2022) [1] | |
Number of employees | 3,000 (2023) [2] |
Website | drax |
Drax Group plc, trading as Drax, is a power generation business. The principal downstream enterprises are based in the UK and include Drax Power Limited, which runs the biomass fuelled Drax power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire. The Group also runs an international biomass supply chain business. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
In 2021, the company was taken out of the S&P Global Clean Energy Index, as it is no longer considered to be a "clean" energy company by the S&P. [3]
In 1990, the electricity industry of England and Wales was privatised under the Electricity Act 1989. Three generating companies and 12 regional electricity companies were created. As a result of privatisation, Drax Power Station came under the ownership of National Power, one of the newly formed generating companies. Over the years that followed privatisation, the map of the industry changed dramatically. One significant change was the emergence of vertically integrated companies, combining generation, distribution and supply interests. In certain cases, it became necessary for generation assets to be divested, and so in 1999 Drax Power Station was acquired by the US-based AES Corporation for £1.87 billion (US$3 billion). [4] A partial re-financing of Drax was completed in 2000, with £400 million of senior bonds being issued by AES Drax Holdings, and £267 million of subordinated debt issued by AES Drax Energy. [5]
Increased competition, over-capacity and new trading arrangements contributed to a significant drop in wholesale electricity prices, which hit an all-time low in 2002. Many companies experienced financial problems, and Drax Power Station's major customer went into administration, triggering financial difficulties for Drax. Following a series of standstill agreements with its creditors, the AES Corporation and Drax parted company in August 2003. [6] During the restructuring, a number of bids were received from companies wishing to take a stake in the ownership of Drax, but creditors voted overwhelmingly to retain their interest in Drax. In December 2003, the restructuring was completed and Drax came under the ownership of a number of financial institutions. [7]
Almost exactly two years later, on 15 December 2005, Drax underwent a re-financing and shares in Drax Group plc were listed on the London Stock Exchange for the first time. [8]
In 2009, Drax Group acquired Haven Power [9] – enabling it to sell electricity directly. In 2015, the Group acquired Billington Bioenergy, specialists in providing sustainable biomass pellets for domestic energy systems. [10]
In 2016, Drax Group acquired Opus Energy for £340 million funded by a new acquisition debt facility of up to £375 million. [11] In October 2017, Drax sold Billington Bioenergy for £2 million to an AIM-listed energy company called Aggregated Micro Power Holdings. [12]
On 16 October 2018, Drax Group announced that it had agreed to acquire Scottish Power's portfolio of pumped storage, hydro and gas-fired generation for £702 million in cash from Iberdrola, subject to shareholder approval. [13] Drax confirmed that approval had been granted on 1 January 2019. The acquisition brings with it Cruachan pumped storage power station, Rye House power station, Damhead Creek power station, Galloway hydro-electric power scheme, Lanark Hydro Electric Scheme, Shoreham Power Station and Blackburn Mill power station. [14]
On 15 December 2020, Drax Group announced the sale of Rye House, Damhead Creek, Shoreham and Blackburn Mill to VPI Holdings for £193.3m. [15]
On 13 April 2021, Drax announced that it had completed the acquisition of Pinnacle Renewable Energy Inc. [16]
Drax Group's key asset is Drax Power Station. Originally built, owned and operated by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB), Drax Power Station was constructed and commissioned in two stages. Stage one (units 1, 2 and 3) was completed in 1974. [17] Some 12 years later in 1986, stage two (units 4, 5 and 6) was completed. [17] Drax was the last coal-fired power station to be built in the UK, and was initially designed to use low-sulphur coal from the nearby Selby coalfield in six generating units. Each unit has a capacity of 660 MW when burning coal, giving a total capacity of just under 4 GW. This made Drax the largest power station in the UK. [17]
Related enterprises include Drax Biomass (which specialises in producing biomass pellets to be used to generate electricity and fuel domestic heating systems), [18] Baton Rouge Transit (which is responsible for storing and loading the biomass at the Port of Baton Rouge), [19] Haven Power (an electricity supplier) [20] and Opus Energy (a supplier of gas and electricity to businesses across the United Kingdom). [21]
The company has attracted a series of protests in the past: (i) a climate camp on 31 August 2006, attended over 600 people protesting against the high carbon emissions: 39 people were arrested after trying illegally to gain access to the plant, [22] (ii) a train protest on 13 June 2008, attended by 30 climate change campaigners who halted an EWS coal train en route to the station, [23] and (iii) a worker strike on 18 June 2009, when up to 200 contractors walked out of or failed to show up in a wildcat strike. [24] Also in October 2011 a fire started by spontaneous combustion in a stockpile at the Port of Tyne biomass facility. [25] Another fire occurred at the same facility in a conveyor transfer tower in October 2013. [26]
A "virtual protest" was held in April 2020 by Biofuelwatch, which claims that Drax is the UK's largest emitter of carbon dioxide and that the wood pellets Drax burns are leading to the destruction of forests in the southern United States. [27] Protesters also claim that the company is burning more wood than any other power station in the world. [28]
The company had proposed to build a new 3.6 GW gas-fired power plant at Selby which was expected to produce 75% of the UK's power sector emissions once the plant was underway. [29] A protest took place outside the company's offices in London in July 2019 [30] and further protests took place in Yorkshire in August 2020. [28] Protesters claimed that the company was asking for substantial subsidies to operate the new plant "in addition to the £2.36 million a day it already receives for burning biomass." [28] After ministers overruled objections from the planning authority and approved the plant, a legal challenge was brought against the decision but failed in the courts in January 2021. [29] However, the company announced in February 2021 that the plans for the new plant had been abandoned. [31]
On 3 October 2022, BBC Panorama aired an episode showing how pellets burned in Drax powerplants came from natural growth forest in British Columbia. [32]
Drax power station is a large biomass power station in Drax, North Yorkshire, England. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and had a 1.29 GW capacity for coal that was retired in 2021. Its name comes from the nearby village of Drax. It is situated on the River Ouse between Selby and Goole. Its generating capacity of 3,906 megawatts (MW), which includes the shut down coal units, is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom, providing about 6% of the United Kingdom's electricity supply.
India is the third largest producer of electricity in the world. During the fiscal year (FY) 2023–24, the total electricity generation in the country was 1,949 TWh, of which 1,734 TWh was generated by utilities.
Japan is a major consumer of energy, ranking fifth in the world by primary energy use. Fossil fuels accounted for 88% of Japan's primary energy in 2019. Japan imports most of its energy due to scarce domestic resources. As of 2022, the country imports 97% of its oil and is the larger liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer globally.
Pellet fuels are a type of solid fuel made from compressed organic material. Pellets can be made from any one of five general categories of biomass: industrial waste and co-products, food waste, agricultural residues, energy crops, and untreated lumber. Wood pellets are the most common type of pellet fuel and are generally made from compacted sawdust and related industrial wastes from the milling of lumber, manufacture of wood products and furniture, and construction. Other industrial waste sources include empty fruit bunches, palm kernel shells, coconut shells, and tree tops and branches discarded during logging operations. So-called "black pellets" are made of biomass, refined to resemble hard coal and were developed to be used in existing coal-fired power plants. Pellets are categorized by their heating value, moisture and ash content, and dimensions. They can be used as fuels for power generation, commercial or residential heating, and cooking.
NRG Energy, Inc. is an American energy company, headquartered in Houston, Texas. It was formerly the wholesale arm of Northern States Power Company (NSP), which became Xcel Energy, but became independent in 2000. NRG Energy is involved in energy generation and retail electricity. Their portfolio includes natural gas generation, coal generation, oil generation, nuclear generation, wind generation, utility-scale generation, and distributed solar generation. NRG serves over 7 million retail customers in 24 US states including Texas, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio; the District of Columbia, and eight provinces in Canada.
EDF Energy is a British integrated energy company, wholly owned by the French state-owned EDF, with operations spanning electricity generation and the sale of natural gas and electricity to homes and businesses throughout the United Kingdom. It employs 11,717 people, and handles 5.22 million business and residential customer accounts.
Redbank Power Station is a biomass power station located in Warkworth, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The station is currently awaiting a restart of operations after converting from its original use as a coal-fired power station. Redbank is unique for its utilisation of circulating fluidised bed technology, the only generator of its kind in Australia. Upon re-fire, the station will operate using 100% biomass at a capacity of 151MW of electricity.
Energy in the United Kingdom came mostly from fossil fuels in 2021. Total energy consumption in the United Kingdom was 142.0 million tonnes of oil equivalent in 2019. In 2014, the UK had an energy consumption per capita of 2.78 tonnes of oil equivalent compared to a world average of 1.92 tonnes of oil equivalent. Demand for electricity in 2023 was 29.6 GW on average, supplied through 235 TWh of UK-based generation and 24 TWh of energy imports.
The energy policy of India is to increase the locally produced energy in India and reduce energy poverty, with more focus on developing alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy. Net energy import dependency was 40.9% in 2021-22. The primary energy consumption in India grew by 13.3% in FY2022-23 and is the third biggest with 6% global share after China and USA. The total primary energy consumption from coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, hydroelectricity and renewable power is 809.2 Mtoe in the calendar year 2018. In 2018, India's net imports are nearly 205.3 million tons of crude oil and its products, 26.3 Mtoe of LNG and 141.7 Mtoe coal totaling to 373.3 Mtoe of primary energy which is equal to 46.13% of total primary energy consumption. India is largely dependent on fossil fuel imports to meet its energy demands – by 2030, India's dependence on energy imports is expected to exceed 53% of the country's total energy consumption.
AGL Energy Ltd is an Australian listed public company involved in both the generation and retailing of electricity and gas for residential and commercial use. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. AGL is Australia's largest electricity generator, and the nation's largest carbon emitter. In 2022, 83% of its energy came from burning coal.
The energy policy of Australia is subject to the regulatory and fiscal influence of all three levels of government in Australia, although only the State and Federal levels determine policy for primary industries such as coal. Federal policies for energy in Australia continue to support the coal mining and natural gas industries through subsidies for fossil fuel use and production. Australia is the 10th most coal-dependent country in the world. Coal and natural gas, along with oil-based products, are currently the primary sources of Australian energy usage and the coal industry produces over 30% of Australia's total greenhouse gas emissions. In 2018 Australia was the 8th highest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita in the world.
Engie SA is a French multinational power company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie, which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear power, renewable energy, and in the petroleum industry. It is involved in both upstream and downstream activities.
Since 2013, total primary energy consumption in India has been the third highest in the world after China and United States. India is the second-top coal consumer in the year 2017 after China. India ranks third in oil consumption with 22.1 crore tons in 2017 after United States and China. India is net energy importer to meet nearly 47% of its total primary energy in 2019.
Energy in Germany is obtained for the vast majority from fossil sources, accounting for 77.6% of total energy consumption in 2023, followed by renewables at 19.6%, and 0.7% nuclear power. As of 2023, German primary energy consumption amounted to 10,791 Petajoule, making it the ninth largest global primary energy consumer. The total consumption has been steadily declining from its peak of 14,845 Petajoule in 2006. In 2023 Germany's gross electricity production reached 508.1 TWh, down from 569.2 TWh in 2022, and 631.4 TWh in 2013.
China is the world's largest electricity producer, having overtaken the United States in 2011 after rapid growth since the early 1990s. In 2021, China produced 8.5 petawatt-hour (PWh) of electricity, approximately 30% of the world's electricity production.
The Avedøre Power Station is a combined heat and power station, located in Avedøre, Denmark, just south of Copenhagen, and is owned by Ørsted A/S. Avedøre Power Plant is a high-technology facility and one of the world's most efficient of its kind, being able to utilize as much as 94% of the energy in the fuel and convert 49% of the fuel energy into electricity. Apart from using petroleum (oil) and natural gas, the plant runs on a wide variety of biomass fuels such as straw and wood pellets. The plant consists of two units with a total capacity of 793 MW of electricity and 918 MW of heat. The combination of producing electricity and heat for district heating at the same time is widely used in Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia, due to the need of domestic heating together with the Danish energy companies putting a big effort into optimising the energy plants.
Ireland is a net energy importer. Ireland's import dependency decreased to 85% in 2014. The cost of all energy imports to Ireland was approximately €5.7 billion, down from €6.5 billion (revised) in 2013 due mainly to falling oil and, to a lesser extent, gas import prices. Consumption of all fuels fell in 2014 with the exception of peat, renewables and non-renewable wastes.
Opus Energy Limited supplies gas and electricity to businesses across the United Kingdom. It purchases electricity from wind, solar, hydro, and anaerobic digestion generators, and provides support to develop energy-generating sites. It is headquartered in Northampton, United Kingdom with an additional office in Oxford. It shares the same management as Haven Power.
Approximately 44% of primary energy is from renewable energy sources in New Zealand. Approximately 87% of electricity comes from renewable energy, primarily hydropower and geothermal power.
Energy in the U.S. state of Hawaii is produced from a mixture of fossil fuel and renewable resources. Producing energy is complicated by the state's isolated location and lack of fossil fuel resources. The state relies heavily on imports of petroleum; Hawaii has the highest share of petroleum use in the United States, with 67% of electricity generation in the state coming from petroleum in 2023, compared to less than 1% nationally.