Drax set on having biomass appeal

Charles Berry, Chairman of Drax, best known as the operator of an old school coal-fired power station, said at the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday that burning sustainable biomass in place of coal remains the strategic focus of the company.

"Reducing our carbon footprint is central to our business strategy and we continued to make good progress in fulfilment of this," Berry told shareholders, as he reviewed the group's performance in 2011.

The group has now embarked on the first of two planned outages for this year which will see the completion of its turbine upgrade project which it started in 2007.

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Completion of the project will take Drax towards an overall efficiency of 40% which Berry said builds on the company's position as "the UK's most efficient coal-fired power station," while delivering savings of carbon dioxide emissions of one million tonnes each year.

The company's evolution into a greener energy producer is progressing well, Berry said, but the company needs an appropriate level of regulatory support. "To that end we await government's final decision on the future support levels for all renewable technologies, which is expected in the Spring with legislation in the Summer," Berry said.

JH