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Drax Group PLC on Wednesday hailed a strong performance during the first quarter, and the company announced a £150 million share buyback. Yorkshire, England-based power generator Drax said it expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2023 to be line with consensus of £1.2 million. This would be up 64% from the £731 million achieved in 2022. Drax also said a share buyback programme of £150 million will start during the current quarter. ‘The programme is not expected to have any impact on the group’s medium and long-term growth plans which continues to include UK [bioenergy with carbon capture and storage], US BECCS, pellet plant and pumped storage hydro expansion,’ the company said. Drax formally closed the remaining two coal units at Drax Power Station at the end of March and commenced decommissioning. Chief Executive Officer Will Gardiner said: ‘We remain excited about the opportunity to do BECCS in the UK. Whilst the project is not currently in the track 1 process, we have commenced formal discussions with the Government to facilitate the transition to BECCS at Drax Power Station by 2030 ‘In the first quarter of 2023, we have delivered a strong system support and generation performance, providing renewable, secure, dispatchable power for millions of homes and businesses across the UK.’ Gardiner added: ‘In the US, we continue to make good progress screening options for over 10 BECCS projects which will deliver long-term, large-scale carbon removal.’ In March, the UK Department for Energy Security & Net Zero said that Drax’s power bioenergy with carbon capture and storage submission, had met the minimum criteria for deliverability by 2027, but would not be one of eight projects selected as its track-1 carbon-capture and storage clusters. The government noted that it will continue to engage with Drax’s project, adding that ‘track-1 is not the extent of our ambition’. Shares in Drax were up 4.8% at 648.80p in London on Wednesday. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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