Drax Pauses Plans for Crucial Energy Storage Site as Costs Rise
The dam at the Drax Cruachan Hydroelectric Power Station in Dalmally, UK.
Photographer: Emily Macinnes/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Drax Group Plc paused plans to upgrade a pumped storage facility in Scotland, dealing a blow to the UK government’s drive to develop a clean-power grid.
The government set up a subsidy mechanism to bolster long duration storage projects — such as the 600 megawatt Cruachan II — which are key to its clean power strategy. Drax said it won’t participate in the first phase of that plan because of rising costs and uncertainty over the return on capital investments.