PLANS to build a carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility at Drax Power Station came a step closer today as the Government announced it has submitted for European funding.

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has submitted 12 projects to the European Investment Bank (EIB) for consideration in the EU’s €4.5 billion fund to support CCS, whereby carbon dioxide is stripped from burning coal and secured underground rather than released into the atmosphere, and other innovative renewable projects across the European Union.

Only three projects per member state will succeed in getting funding from this round of the EU’s New Entrant Reserve (NER) scheme.

Drax Power, as part of a consortium with Alstom UK and National Grid Carbon, has proposed to build a 426MW CCS demonstration project based at Drax's Selby site, based on oxy-firing technology. As part of the project, National Grid, together with an experienced offshore partner, will develop a transportation system out to the southern North Sea where the carbon dioxide will be permanently stored.

Seven of the submitted applications are for CCS projects, which also included C.GEN’s proposal for a new integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power station in Killingholme, Yorkshire.

The Don Valley Power Project, in Doncaster, formerly known as the Hatfield Project under Powerfuel, which went into administration last year, was also submitted to the European Investment Bank after being bought by 2Co Energy earlier this week.

The EIB is expected to make decisions on funding after nine months analysing the proposals.

The UK Government also said it was committed to continuing public sector investment in four CCS projects and aimed to launch a selection process to identify projects for UK funding later this year.

Energy Minister Charles Hendry said all the projects received by DECC met the eligibility criteria.

“They demonstrate that the UK is at the cutting edge of low carbon energy development, ranging from CCS to wave, tidal and offshore wind.

“Taking forward these sorts of technologies will be crucial to our move to a low carbon economy, providing green jobs as well as helping us lower emissions and increase energy security.”