Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Drax’s current Contract for Difference contains any binding obligations requiring the development and deployment of carbon capture and storage; and what assessment his Department has made of the continued burning of imported wood pellets for electricity generation under that contract.

The current Contract for Difference (CfD) and recently announced Low-Carbon Dispatchable CfD agreements will be in place until 2031 and do not include contractual requirements for the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) at the site. The focus of the new CfD is ensuring security of supply for the contract duration, and the development of CCS in the future remains under consideration.

The Government published an impact assessment in early 2024 as part of its consultation on support options for large-scale biomass generators. This assessment was consistent with the views of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which recognise that bioenergy can play a significant role in decarbonising economies, provided policies are in place to mitigate the use of unsustainable biomass.