PLANS to secure the future of power generation at North Yorkshire power station Drax were under review during a ministerial visit surrounding the plant’s gas proposals.

Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry, and Selby MP Nigel Adams, visited Drax Power Station to find out more about the Drax Repower project, which would see up to two of Drax’s coal generating units repowered to gas.

The plans sit alongside Drax’s existing coal-to-biomass conversion which has seen three units repowered to run on sustainable biomass pellets, with a fourth biomass conversion to follow this year.

If the Drax Repower plans go ahead in their entirety, the development would include two combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) with a combined capacity of up to 3,600 megawatts (MW) of electricity as well as battery storage of up to 200MW.

Andy Koss, Drax power chief executive said: “We were delighted to welcome Nigel Adams and Jake Berry to Drax. Our repowering project represents a really exciting time for us; the options we’re exploring could reuse some of the existing infrastructure from the remaining coal assets at Drax and extend their operation as gas plant into the 2030s.

“We hope the Repower project will secure the future of the power station beyond 2025 when the government says coal must come off the system. The North of England has a rich heritage in providing energy to the rest of the UK and Drax has an important role to play in delivering a low carbon economy as the UK comes off coal.”

Drax Power Station employs around 900 people and generated 16 per cent of the country’s renewable electricity in 2016 – enough for four million households.

Jake Berry, Minister for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth, said: “Drax plays a hugely important role in the northern economy and it’s truly impressive how it has continued to innovate in recent years to move away from coal power.

“I enjoyed learning more about Drax’s gas conversion project and its wider plans to support Britain’s transition to a low carbon future based on an electric economy.”

Mr Adams said: “Thousands of jobs in Selby and across Yorkshire directly or indirectly rely on Drax Power Station.

“Drax’s proposal to convert its remaining coal units to gas to extend the life of the power station comes as welcome news at a time when other power stations in my constituency are closing their doors, with significant consequences for employees.”