Breadcrumbs
The largest emitters in the UK: annual review
A new annual ranking of official data shows Drax power station is by far the largest emitter of CO2 in the country, emitting more than the next four largest power stations combined.
Many of the largest emissions sources are power plants, however security of supply can be achieved without the need for billions in public subsidies for the largest emitters. A range of technology, infrastructure and market solutions are available to reduce consumer bills and ensure energy security.
Rapid roll-out of cheap generation is needed. The UK government has announced ambitious wind and solar deployment targets, with the latest renewable contracts guaranteeing power around 50% cheaper (48% to 67% cheaper) than that from Drax power station. Accelerating renewable energy deployment requires electricity grid upgrades, which should also reduce bottlenecks to make the network more efficient.
Other technological solutions are already being deployed to smooth out natural supply variations, including short and long-duration energy storage, interconnector cables to other countries, and consumer responses to high or low supply. The National ESO Operability Strategy Report 2024 also highlights innovative technologies that may support longer-term supply security, including hydrogen power generation. Renewable energy and storage solutions are much less reliant on fuel imports than biomass or gas power plants meaning that, once built, the cost is far less exposed to international price spikes. As the power sector becomes progressively decarbonised, a range of solutions and levers are available to balance supply and demand, without needing large subsidies for the UK’s largest emitters.
Supporting Material
Methodology
Direct emissions
Ranking of CO2 emitters calculated through analysis of UK and EU ETS. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme has published the 2023 dataset for direct emissions, so excludes upstream and downstream indirect emissions. For example, this excludes upstream emissions from purchased electricity, or downstream emissions from the sale of fossil fuels.
Biomass burning for power generation is effectively excluded from UK carbon accounts, so Ember has sourced emissions from biomass power station annual reports. The UK ETS uses the same biomass emissions factor as the EU ETS directive 2003/87/EC. Annex IV of the Directive 2003/87/EC states: “The emission factor for biomass shall be zero”. Drax emissions are taken from the Drax Group plc Annual report and published financial results for 2023.
Lynemouth emissions have been calculated by Ember from company generation data as emissions are not published. According to UK national statistics total UK emissions from power plants in 2023 excluding biomass were 44.1 Mt CO2e, when Drax and Lynemouth power stations are included, this rises to 56.2 Mt CO2e.
Comparison to total UK territorial emissions
The Office of National Statistics reports on UK total greenhouse gas emissions in different ways, ‘territorial emissions’ focuses on emissions within national borders and excludes, for instance, imported goods. It also excludes ‘biogenic emissions’ i.e. from burning woody biomass in Drax. For this reason, Drax emissions are described as ‘equivalent proportion of total emissions’ if territorial emissions are expanded to include its direct emissions.
Company-level emissions
The ETS data has been categorised by company, and wherever possible the company ownership share has been represented. For example, SSE has a 50% stake in multiple large power plants, and therefore has only been assigned 50% of the reported 2023 emissions from those sites. Companies under the same umbrella organisation have been grouped into a single name for the purposes of comparison.
Subsidy projections
Ember estimates the value of future biomass subsidies in line with the index they are tagged to: ROC prices increase each year by Retail Price Index (RPI), which currently stands at 4.5%. CfDs increase each year by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which currently stands at 3.8%.
Acknowledgements
A.P.S. (UK) / Alamy Stock Photo
This report collates official data from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme registry and company annual reports to produce an annual ranking of emitters by specific asset, and by company. The ranking focuses on direct carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions across 2023, emitted within UK borders.
Biomass burning, steelworks and gas power are the top UK carbon polluters. Drax power plant is the largest single source of carbon emissions in the UK, followed by Port Talbot Steelworks and Pembroke gas power station.
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