Drax Group to take over Cruachan Power Station

Cruachan Power Station powered into the New Year under new ownership, after it was bought by Drax Group.

The company took over the reins from Scottish Power on December 31.

Drax shareholders approved the acquisition to purchase Scottish Power’s last gas and hydro stations for £702 million in cash.

The portfolio consists of Cruachan pumped storage hydro (440MW), run-of-river hydro locations at Galloway and Lanark (126MW), four CCGT stations: Damhead Creek (805MW), Rye House (715MW), Shoreham (420MW) and Blackburn Mill (60MW), and a biomass-from-waste facility (Daldowie).

Scottish Power sold the assets in order to become the first major UK energy company to generate all its electricity from wind power.

The company’s chief executive Keith Anderson said: ‘We are leaving carbon generation behind for a renewable future powered by cheaper green energy. We have closed coal, sold gas and built enough wind to power 1.2 million homes.’

Ignacio Galan, chairman of Scottish Power’s Spanish owner, Iberdrola, said energy companies needed to be part of the solution to climate change: ‘Iberdrola is acting now to cut carbon emissions 30 per cent by 2020 and be carbon neutral by 2050. The sale of these generation assets is consistent with our strategy,’ he said.

Will Gardiner, chief executive officer of Drax Group, said: ‘The board believes there is a compelling logic in our move to add further flexible sources of power to our offering, which will accelerate our ability to deliver our strategic vision of a lower-carbon, lower-cost energy future for the UK.’

Iberdrola and Drax have agreed to a ‘risk sharing mechanism’ for 2019.