Drax Group
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Drax Group | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Public (LSE: DRX) |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Drax, England, UK |
| Key people | Gordon Horsfield, Chairman Dorothy Thompson, Chief Executive Gordon Boyd, Finance Director |
| Industry | Electrical power generation |
| Revenue | £1,387.0 million (2006) |
| Operating income | £657.9 million (2006) |
| Net income | £463.5 million (2006) |
| Website | www.draxgroup.plc.uk |
Drax Group plc (LSE: DRX) is a British based Electrical power generation company. The company's principal subsidiary is Drax Power Limited, owner of the Drax power station near Selby in North Yorkshire, the largest coal-fired power station in Europe which supplies about 7% of UK electrical consumption.
The business of Drax Group is the sale of electricity to the wholesale market as well as the sale of products of power generation such as pulverised fuel ash.
[edit] Company history
Drax power station was built in the 1970s by the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). In the privatisation and breakup of the UK power industry it was transferred to privatised generating company National Power in 1990. National Power sold Drax power station in November 1999 to AES Corporation for £1.87 billion (US$3 billion).
The plant was troubled by the fall in wholesale energy prices and the collapse of TXU Europe into administration. TXU had taken 60% of its output. AES abandoned the plant to its creditors in August 2003, leaving a total debt of around US$2 billion. BHP Billiton, International Power, RWE and E.ON were all touted as potential buyers, although all reported bids were for less than US$200 million. These offers were rejected, and the subsequent rise in energy prices meant that by late 2005 the plant's owners were receiving offers in the region of £2 billion. However, negotiations were not concluded successfully and, on 23 November 2005, Drax Power Ltd announced that the latest bid to buy Drax had failed. On 15 December 2005 Drax Group plc floated its shares on the London Stock Exchange: the company is listed on the FTSE 250 Index.
