Drax calls for biomass support

Drax, the owner and operator of the Drax coal-fired power plant, blamed the Government for not making full use of its biomass renewable energy facilities as it reported higher annual profits last night.

Drax Power Station accounted for around 7 per cent of the country's renewable power in 2010, "more than twice as much as any other facility in the UK," its chief executive Dorothy Thompson said. But she added that this was "despite not using our renewable facilities at full capacity because of low regulatory support for biomass".

"With appropriate regulatory support, we stand ready to expand our biomass capability significantly," she explained as the company reported £255m in pre-tax profits for 2010.