Drax power station Drax power station Drax power station is a large biomass and coal-fired power station in North Yorkshire, England, capable of co-firing petcoke. It has a 2.6 GW capacity for biomass and 1.3 GW capacity for coal. 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) is the highest of any power station in the United Kingdom, providing about 6% of the United Kingdom's electricity supply. Opened in 1973 and extended in the mid-1980s, the station was initially operated by the Central Electricity
Drax power station on a continuous basis. North America was expected to be the source of the vast majority of the biomass, although some would be domestically sourced willow and elephant grass. Drax Group's decision was enabled by a new UK government policy, effective in April 2013, to award 1.0 tradable ROCs (renewable obligation certificates) per megawatt of power generation from coal power plants that are fully converted to burn biomass; CEO Dorothy Thompson stated the company intended to become a predominately biomass-fuelled energy producer. By April 2013 financing for the scheme include £190 million through sale of shares, £100 million from Prudential/