Page 7 - Gi February 2019 - flipbook

Drax completes

purchase of Scottish

Power gas portfolio

The concrete dam of Cruachan
pumped storage hydroelectric
DRAX HAS COMPLETED “We are investing in power station
its acquisition of a 2.6GW Great Britain by acquiring
portfolio of gas, hydro and this portfolio of flexible,
pumped storage assets low-carbon and renewable by Drax shareholders on to its significant interests
operated by Scottish generation assets. 21 December and formally in fossil fuel and biomass
Power from its parent “They complement completed on 31 December, generation and the net
company Iberdrola. our existing activities by according to Utility Week. losses it posted in 2017 and
The £702 million deal providing very flexible Among the assets bought the first half of 2018.
has added nearly two- power which not only by the company are four Announcing the deal in
thirds to Drax’s total keeps the lights on for combined-cycle gas turbine October, Scottish Power
generation capacity. thousands of households, plants with a total capacity Chief Executive Keith
“As a British energy but also provides crucial of 2GW and the 440MW Anderson said it marked
company, we are very proud system support services to Cruachan pumped storage a “pivotal shift” for the
to be the new owners of the grid, maintaining secure facility in Scotland. company, which was
these critically important supplies and enabling more Biofuelwatch has raised “leaving carbon generation
power stations across renewables like wind and concerns that the purchase behind for a renewable
England and Scotland,” said solar onto the system”. will halt plans developed by future powered by cheaper
Drax Group Chief Executive On 3 December, Iberdrola Scottish Power to double green energy”.
Will Gardiner. and Drax announced revised the capacity of Cruachan at a However, Almuth
“For decades Drax has terms for the transaction cost of up to £400 million. Ernsting from Biofuelwatch
been at the heart of our following the suspension The environmental described it as a “cynical,
energy system and now of the capacity market due campaign group believes profit-driven move” that
we’re going to play a bigger to an EU court ruling. The Drax is highly unlikely to would undermine the
role than ever. acquisition was approved invest in the expansion due growth of renewables. ■

North Sea bringing ‘rejuvenation’,

says Global Carbon Capture Institute

A ‘REJUVENATION’ OF now in development in announced was going to there are 43 large scale
European interest in carbon Europe, driven by carbon receive a £175,000 grant to CCS facilities, with 18 in
capture and storage (CCS) storage options in the help develop its plans. commercial operation, five
technology is being brought North Sea. Acorn is currently a being constructed and 20 in
about by the North Sea, That includes the scalable demonstrator project which development.
according to a new report. Acorn project at St Fergus aims to scale up, storing The report states: “CCS
The Global CCS Institute near Peterhead, which the CO2 under the North Sea has enjoyed a revival in
said several projects are UK government recently with the use of oil and gas Europe, where its prowess
infrastructure. as an industrial mitigation
Other projects including technology has been widely
the Teesside Collective recognised.
and HyNet North West “Eight large-scale
decarbonised hydrogen CCS facilities are now in
project are also featured development. This CCS
in the document, reports rejuvenation is being largely
Energy Voice. led by the UK, Norway and
The report states the the Netherlands, where
UK is among the global industrial clusters around
leaders in driving forward North Sea storage options
UK is among the global leaders CCS policy in a bid to meet provide an opportunity to
in driving forward CCS policy climate change targets. significantly reduce the unit
Around the world cost of CO2 storage.” ■

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News.indd 2 17/01/2019 12:34