(Bloomberg) -- The UK government said it will continue to support biomass energy, though it failed to provide specific details on how it would subsidize the country’s biggest utility using the fuel.

In a long-awaited biomass strategy published Thursday, Graham Stuart, the minister for energy security and net zero, said the technology has an “extraordinary” future potential for transport, heat and electricity. The government will be also be launching a consultation to tighten up sustainability criteria for biomass, he said. 

Last year, biomass supplied 11% of UK power, with much of it coming from Drax Group Plc, which has converted its coal-fired units to run on wood chips. The utility, which said it welcomed the strategy paper, rose after the report’s publication and gained as much 2.4% Thursday.

While concerns remain about its potential to cut emissions and whether growing crops for energy displaces food supplies, the government said it would continue to provide financial support to new biomass projects that meet its 2018 sustainability criteria. This will be through its contract-for-difference subsidy program that guarantees a minimum price for power produced.

Government subsidies for Drax’s unabated biomass generation expire in 2027. Due to the cost of biomass as a fuel to generate power, the utility is unlikely to be profitable without the kind of help that can compete with the generous investment incentives being offered in the US. Drax said it’s in discussions with the UK government about “bridging options” to help finance out to as far as 2030.

Mark Sommerfeld, deputy director of policy at the Renewable Energy Association, said he was pleased the government was planning to continue to support biomass across all parts of the economy, as the industry had concerns it would start picking winners.

However, he urged the government to speed up its work on developing financial support for bioenergy carbon capture and storage, including when they would allocate that money.

(Updates to add Drax talks with government in fifth paragraph.)

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