ClientEarth has secured the right to appeal a recent court ruling to uphold the planning permission granted to Drax to build up to 3.6GW of new gas generation.
Back in October, the business and energy secretary at the time, Andrea Leadsom, awarded a development consent order to Drax to reuse parts of the two remaining coal units at its power station in North Yorkshire to create two new combined-cycle gas turbines.
The verdict went against the recommendation of the Planning Inspectorate, which concluded that the project did not comply with the government’s planning policy and would undermine its climate change commitments.
ClientEarth sought a judicial review in the High Court but the order was upheld at a ruling in May. The non-profit environmental law firm has now been permitted to mount a further challenge in the Court of Appeal.
Sam Hunter Jones, a lawyer at ClientEarth, said: “One of the fundamental objectives of the government’s planning policies is to avoid projects that risk locking in unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come.
“However, the way the secretary of state has interpreted these planning policies is stopping projects from being refused on that basis. We believe that approach is unlawful.”
He continued: “As decisions on large-scale infrastructure projects across the country continue to be made, it is crucial these projects do not undermine the UK’s efforts to decarbonise by locking us into unnecessarily high carbon energy over the coming decades.
“It is therefore vital that the policies and laws central to this case allow decision makers to refuse planning approval for projects because of their climate impact. We strongly believe that they do so and look forward to arguing our case in the Court of Appeal.”
Speaking to Utility Week in February, Drax chief executive Will Gardiner said the company was considering alternatives to the new gas turbines, partly due the previous legal challenge which was still ongoing at the time. He remarked that the lifetime of gas is “probably getting shorter”.