Archives: Press Release

Heavy loads safely delivered to iconic power station

3 October 2019

Press releases
Drax Transformer to Cruachan move

The unusually large loads were transported separately during the night to reduce any disruption to other road users and required two short road closures on the A82 between Crianlarich and Tyndrum, as well as the temporary reinforcement of a bridge at Inverherive, to ensure it could withstand the weight.

The transformers were built for use at Cruachan but were held in long-term storage at Longannet power station, which is being decommissioned. The transformers were part of Drax’s acquisition of a portfolio of flexible, low-carbon and renewable power generating assets, which completed at the end of last year and included Cruachan power station.

Ian Kinnaird, Drax Head of Hydro, said:

“Cruachan is a vital piece of our generating portfolio as it can provide power at short notice, helping to plug the gaps when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine.

“Moving this important infrastructure to Cruachan means we have a couple of spares available on site, so we’ll be able to reduce the length of time a generating unit is out of action should a transformer require repairing, enabling us to get back up and running more quickly.”

Cruachan is one of only four pumped hydro storage stations in the UK and has a capacity of 440 MW – enough to power more than 90,000 homes at times of peak demand.

Built on the shores of Loch Awe in Argyll and Bute, it was the first reversible pumped storage hydro system on this scale to be built in the world.

The transformers were stripped back to the core to make them lighter and able to fit under bridges. The size of the load limited driving speeds to an average of about 10 miles per hour. The units were relocated in stages over two weeks, with the moves completed on Tuesday October 1. The transformers are now being reassembled on site at Cruachan.

Driving the transformer up to Drax’s Cruachan pumped storage hydro power station.

Road closures were carried out in accordance with the requirements of local police and transport authorities, who planned the timing of the closures to cause the least inconvenience to other road users.

TOP IMAGE: Driving the transformer over temporary bridge reinforcement at Inverherive.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888

Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07912230393

Editor’s Notes

  • Each transformer weighs 115 tonnes and measures more than 2.5 metres high. The transformer, transport trailer and tractor unit together weighed over 200 tonnes.
  • Cruachan became part of the Drax Group through an acquisition that completed on 31 December 2018.
  • The turbine hall is located 1 km within the hollowed-out mountain of Ben Cruachan and houses four generators. The plant has four primary modes of operation and can deliver a range of balancing and ancillary services essential for supporting the electricity grid and maintaining secure supplies.
  • Cruachan acts responsively by generating electricity to meet peak-time demand. It can achieve full load in 30 seconds and can maintain its maximum power production for more than 16 hours if necessary.
  • Cruachan Power Station is also a popular tourist destination. Guided tours are available through the Cruachan website with visitors and school groups welcomed between February and mid-December.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Customers:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Drax employees raise £6,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support

Press releases
Drax employees fun run for Macmillan Cancer Support

People working at Drax’s offices and power stations across the country baked cakes, or bought them to raise money for the charity, whilst others took part in an annual fun run at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.

Drax Group Chairman Phil Cox, started the 5km and 10km fun run which 70 employees took part in at the Skylark Nature Reserve next to the power station, near Selby. Each employee donated £1 per kilometre to take part in the event.

Those who opted to run the 10km course faced a climb up local landmark, Barlow Mound, which has views back over the power station, near Selby in North Yorkshire.

Hayley Adamson, Senior Biomass Portfolio Trader, completed the 5km race and was the first woman over the finishing line. She said:

“It’s great to see so many colleagues taking part in the fun run, the atmosphere’s been great – I just wish I’d completed it a bit quicker.”

Drax Group made a £2,000 charitable contribution to support the employees’ national fundraising day taking the total to £6,500 for Macmillan, which provides support and advice to cancer patients and their families.

Contractors working for Drax Power Station’s suppliers Hargreaves and Doosan Babcock also donated £1,200 towards the total raised for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Vicky Bullivant, Drax’s Head of Business Sustainability said:

“This was an outstanding Drax team effort with people right across the Group contributing to the total raised – including our contractors.

“People baked delicious cakes which were sold at a number of our offices and power stations – whilst many more of us enjoyed buying and eating them. If an army marches on its stomach then it’s probably no surprise that quite so many of our colleagues were able to complete the fun run during a morning filled with so much cake!

“We’re proud to have raised £6,500 for Macmillan, supporting the incredible work they do for so many people and we’re looking forward to organising more events over the course of the year to help raise money for charity.”

Photo caption: Phil Cox, Chair of Drax Group, starting the Fun Run at Skylark Nature Reserve, Drax Power Station

ENDS

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888

Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07912230393

Editor’s Notes

  • In January Drax Group completed the acquisition of a portfolio of renewable, low-carbon and flexible power stations, in strategic locations across the country – from Scotland to the South East coast. This includes the pumped hydro storage facility in Cruachan and the run-of-river hydro plants in Lanark and Galloway.
  • Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s largest power station and the country’s biggest renewable electricity generator.
  • Since converting two thirds of the power station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal, it is producing enough renewable electricity for four million households and delivering carbon savings of more than 80%.
  • If Drax is able to scale up its successful bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot project to become the world’s first negative emissions power station, it would be reducing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the same time as producing flexible, renewable power and supporting grid stability.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Customers:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Will Gardiner responds to UK Government report on Greenhouse gas removal technologies

24 September 2019

Press releases
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner at Drax Power Station.

“This report is further confirmation of the vital role that bioenergy with CCS (BECCS) will play in reaching a net zero-carbon economy and the need to deploy the UK’s first commercial project in the 2020s. Our successful BECCS pilot is already capturing a tonne of carbon a day. With the right policies in place, Drax could become the world’s first negative emissions power station and the anchor for a zero carbon economy in the Humber region.”

New rapid response gas power station approved in Abergelli

19 September 2019

Press releases

The 299MW Open Cycle Gas Turbine (OCGT) power station, on land located at Abergelli Farm, south of Felindre in southern Wales, will be able to go from cold to full load in less than 20 minutes, enabling it to respond quickly to support the grid.

Once operational, it will run for up to an average of 1,500 hours a year, providing flexible, reliable power, when it’s needed most and system support services – contributing to a balanced and cost-effective electricity system, maintaining supplies for up to 150,000 homes.

Andy Koss, CEO Generation at Drax said:

“Securing this approval from the Secretary of State is a crucial step in ensuring development of the new gas generation the UK needs to provide flexible power and system support services to the electricity grid as part of the country’s transition to a low carbon economy.

“Rapid response gas power stations are agile enough to ramp up quickly and support the grid at times of peak demand, making them highly complementary to intermittent renewable sources of power, like wind and solar. Flexible, reliable power stations like this are essential to provide the power Britain’s homes, businesses, transport and infrastructure need.”

Abergelli Power Station will cost up to £90m to build, with around 150 jobs created during the two-year construction phase. It could be generating power as soon as 2022, subject to it securing a capacity market agreement from the government.

Drax applied for a Development Consent Order for Abergelli Power in 2018 with extensive community consultation as part of the planning and consenting process. Drax Group will continue to engage with communities local to the project as the project progresses.

ENDS

Image caption: An artist’s impression of the Abergelli Power Open Cycle Gas Turbine power station on land located at Abergelli Farm, south of Felindre in southern Wales.

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888

Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07912230393 

Editor’s Notes

  • Drax plans to enter Abergelli Power into the next Capacity Market Auction for the period 2022-2023, known as T-3, and 2023-2024, known as T-4.
  • The Capacity Market Auction is the government’s mechanism for securing enough power generation for the UK at the lowest cost.
  • The timing of the next auction is expected to take place in early 2020 following the suspension of the UK government’s Capacity Market pending the outcome of a European Commission investigation.
  • The Development Consent Order (DCO) is published on the National Infrastructure Planning website.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies six percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

ENDS

Drax tees off to raise £2,200 for Macmillan Cancer Support

12 September 2019

Press releases
Drax charity golf tournament

Drax raised £2,200 at its annual charity golf day at the Lanark Golf Club, located near the firm’s landmark Lanark and Galloway hydro-power schemes.

Organised by Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Head of Hydro, this year’s event saw 24 Drax staff take to the fairway to raise money for Macmillan, which works throughout Scotland (and the UK) to provide emotional, physical and financial support for people affected by cancer. Cancer charities are one of four national causes Drax is supporting in 2019 and the company contributed £1,000 towards the total raised by the teams on the day.

Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Head of UK Hydro said:

“Despite some variable weather – which included some good hydro weather – we had a fantastic day raising money for a great cause. Scotland’s the birthplace of golf and this is Drax’s own Ryder Cup with teams from our energy sites across Scotland and England all competing with winners from Cruachan power station, making it a fantastic fundraising opportunity for our business.”

“We’re proud to have raised £2,200 for Macmillan, supporting the incredible work they do for so many people and we’re looking forward to the other events we’ll be organising for them over the course of the year.”

Teeing off for charity: Andrew Davidson (Galloway), Ian Kinnaird (Head of UK Hydro) and David Campbell (Cruachan)

ENDS

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888

Editor’s Notes

  • In January Drax Group completed the acquisition of a portfolio of renewable, low-carbon and flexible power stations, in strategic locations across the country – from Scotland to the South East coast. This includes the pumped hydro storage facility in Cruachan and the run-of-river hydro plants in Lanark and Galloway.
  • Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire is the UK’s largest power station and the country’s biggest renewable electricity generator.
  • Since converting two thirds of the power station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal, it is producing enough renewable electricity for four million households and delivering carbon savings of more than 80%.
  • If Drax is able to scale up its successful bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) pilot project to become the world’s first negative emissions power station, it would be reducing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the same time as producing flexible, renewable power and supporting grid stability.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

For more information visit www.drax.com

EV battery emissions offset by lower carbon electricity system

29 August 2019

Press releases
Jaguar i Pace electric automobile in London UK

Research by Imperial College London for Drax Electric Insights shows that on average Britain’s EVs emit just one quarter of the CO2 of conventional petrol and diesel cars – and if the carbon emitted in making their battery is included, the CO2 emissions are half those of a conventional vehicle:

  • After just two to three years the carbon emitted in producing the batteries for the most efficient EV models would have been saved.
  • Smaller EVs with modest battery sizes are better for the environment, whereas the largest luxury EV models could need three times longer to pay back their carbon cost, as manufacturing their large batteries emits as much carbon as three round the world flights.
  • More CO2 is emitted in building the battery for premium EV model than from recharging it over a 15-year lifetime.

1: Minimum daily carbon intensity each month 2: Britain’s generation mix during June 30th that delivered electricity for less than 100g of carbon per kWh

The research found that the increasing decarbonisation of our electricity supply linked to the 2050 net-zero carbon target is enabling EVs to become even more environmentally friendly. Britain’s EVs bought today could be emitting just a tenth of the CO2 from a petrol car in five years’ time.

Electricity generation is decarbonising faster in Britain than anywhere else in the world. Wind, solar, biomass, and hydro supplied 55% of electricity demand on June 30, breaking last year’s record of 48% according to the report.

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London said:

“EVs have real potential to reduce our carbon footprint and help meet our net-zero carbon ambitions – despite some speculation about how clean they really are.

“An electric vehicle in the UK simply cannot be more polluting than its petrol or diesel equivalent – even when taking into account the upfront ‘carbon cost’ of manufacturing their batteries.  The carbon content of Britain’s electricity has halved in recent years and keeps on falling, whereas conventional engine vehicles have very limited scope to reduce emissions over their lifetime

“Any EV bought today could be emitting just a tenth of what a petrol car would in as little as five years’ time, as the electricity it uses to charge comes from an increasingly low-carbon mix.”

Carbon emissions from driving hatchback electric vehicles in Britain

This new analysis coincides with a longer-term consumer shift in how many electric vehicles there are on our roads, as they fast become more mainstream.

There are now well over 200,000 on Britain’s roads, and this number is growing by 30% per year. 1 in 40 cars sold in Britain is now electric, around a third of which are pure battery models, and two thirds are plug-in hybrid.

Britain’s electric vehicle fleet is expected to expand ten-fold over the next five to ten years according to National Grid’s latest Future Energy Scenarios report.

Paul Sheffield, managing director of Drax’s Customer supply businesses Haven Power and Opus Energy, said:

“The electrification of transport is going to be vital if we are to address the climate crisis. We’ve seen first-hand how complex it can be for businesses to switch their fleet vehicles to EVs and have developed a new service to help make the switch easier for them.

“Supplying renewable electricity to businesses is one step towards helping them to be more sustainable – enabling them to decarbonise other aspects of their operations like transportation, will mean they can play a fuller role in the transition to a zero carbon future.”

 ENDS

Media contacts:

Matt Willey
Drax Group External Affairs Director
E: [email protected]
T: 07711376087

Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355

Notes to Editors

  • Drax launched an EV service for business customers earlier in the year, with SES Water its first customer.
  • The research by Imperial College London for Drax Electric Insights shows:
    • Electric vans are quickly taking off, with over 8,000 sold in Britain to date. Their performance is comparable to small hatchbacks, and they also currently emit around a quarter of the CO2of the most popular conventional van, with around 40 g/km. With their 30–40 kWh battery pack included, this rises to just below half the CO2of a small Ford Transit.
    • Small hatchbacks are the cleanest variety of EV to drive as they are small and light.Electric models currently emit around 33 grams of CO2per km driven, which is one quarter that of the most popular conventional vehicle, a 2019 Ford Fiesta.  These electric models typically come with a 30-45 kWh battery, which pushes their lifetime emissions up around 60 g/km.  This is still less than half the emissions of a petrol or diesel car.  With the projected changes to the grid mix, this will fall to less than one third of a standard car in just five years’ time.
    • Luxury saloons and SUV models are much larger and need more energy to move, meaning they have higher emissions than hatchbacks, at 44-54 g/km. This is still just a quarter of the emissions from a comparable conventional car (a top of the range Mercedes S-Class).  The lifetime emissions of these luxury EVs are notably higher though, pushed up by the enormous 90-100 kWh batteries they use to provide a driving range of over 250 miles.  These batteries are responsible for more CO2emissions than driving the car over its entire lifetime.


About Electric Insights

  • Electric Insights is commissioned by Drax and is delivered independently by a team of academics from Imperial College London, facilitated by the College’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants. The quarterly reports analyse raw data made publicly available by National Grid and Elexon, which run the electricity and balancing market respectively, and Sheffield Solar.
  • Electric Insights Quarterly focuses on supply and demand, prices, emissions, the performance of the various generation technologies and the network that connects them.
  • Along with Dr Iain Staffell, the team from Imperial includes Professors Richard Green and Tim Green, experts in energy economics and electrical engineering, and Dr Rob Gross who contributes expertise in energy policy.
  • Uniquely, Electric Insights provides real time data about the UK’s transmission grid as well as embedded wind and solar generation which is not available from other sources.
  • The quarterly reports are backed by an interactive website electricinsights.co.uk which provides live data from 2009 until the present.

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong staff operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricity generation assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, based at Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan.  It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:  

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com

Drax more than doubles its apprentice intake

28 August 2019

Press releases
Draw Power Station apprentices 2019

Twelve are technical apprentices who could go on to become the power generator’s engineers of the future with one further apprentice joining Drax’s system security team, working to ensure the safety of all staff on site. Six will be in mechanical positions, four in electrical and two working in the control and instrumentation teams.

In the first half of 2019, Drax halved its carbon emissions compared to the year before with more than 90% of the power produced being renewable – enough for more than four million households.

This was made possible as a result of the world class innovation and skill of its inhouse engineers who pioneered the conversion of two thirds of the power station near Selby in North Yorkshire, from coal to use sustainable biomass, delivering carbon savings of more than 80%.

Andy Koss, CEO Generation said:

“One of the highlights of my job is welcoming our newest apprentices to Drax each year – these are the people who could be the shining stars of the future, the ones who will help us to develop the new, cutting edge technologies needed to enable our business to continue to grow.

“Supporting ambitious young people to develop their skills is critical to the future success of our business. By helping them to grow and learn, we can ensure that we have the talented workforce our business and the wider Northern Powerhouse region needs to thrive.”

Drax’s technical apprenticeship scheme gives new recruits the opportunity to gain skills and expertise by working alongside some of the best engineers in the world, who have helped transform the business to become the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

And Drax could go further – by scaling up its successful bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) pilot, it could become the world’s first negative emissions power station. This means it would be reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the same time as producing renewable power – critical to reaching the UK’s net zero carbon ambitions.

This year’s apprentices are aged between 15 and 22 with five from Goole and the rest coming from across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

One of them, Dan Callon, was part of the successful team from Selby College, supported by Drax, which won the Green Power EV race for schools in Hull earlier in the year.

Dan, from Brayton in Selby, said of his new apprenticeship:

“I knew I wanted to work in a hands-on, practical engineering role but didn’t want to go down the academic route. Having opportunities like this at Drax was a really good move for me.”

The 17-year-old added:

“I really enjoyed building and racing the electric car in the Green Power Race which Drax organised – I got to work with some of my friends from Selby College, as well as getting advice from engineers at Drax – in the end we actually won the overall race.

“I’m looking forward to progressing my career with Drax, learning new skills and getting some good experience here.”

Simran Ley, aged 20, has also joined Drax as a technical apprentice. She said:

“I knew I wanted to go down the apprenticeship route as it provides the sort of practical experience you can’t get at university. Drax is well known for its engineering, it made it an obvious choice for me to apply to.”

The Drax Technical Apprenticeship Training Scheme is a four-year programme, and specialises in three engineering disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical and Control & Instrumentation. Drax’s System Security Apprenticeship is a three-year, Level 3 Fire Emergency and Security Systems Apprenticeship, in conjunction with Lincoln College.

Drax offers apprenticeships in engineering disciplines as well as business support areas, such as Finance and Business Administration. All opportunities are advertised on our website.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Matt Willey
Drax Group External Affairs Director
E: [email protected]
T: 07711376087

Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355

Notes to Editors

  • Drax has a longstanding commitment to STEM learning, with around 12,000 educational visits to the power station each year. These range from primary school pupils to degree level students, and all visits are tailored to the level of the visiting school, college or university.
  • It is also investing to help boost educational skills by working closely with local schools and colleges to encourage STEM learning.
  • In 2017 Drax welcomed six technical apprentices compared to nine in 2018, and 12 in 2019 with a further system security apprentice, demonstrating its commitment to retaining and developing a skilled workforce.
  • It has also launched a new apprenticeship scheme at its Scottish power generation sites which it is recruiting to now.
  • To find out more about working at Drax, go to https://www.drax.com/careers/

About Drax

Drax Group’s ambition is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,600-strong employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production.

Power generation:

Drax owns and operates a portfolio of flexible, low carbon and renewable electricitygeneration assets across Britain. The assets include the UK’s largest power station, basedat Selby, North Yorkshire, which supplies five percent of the country’s electricity needs.

Having converted two thirds of Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead ofcoal it has become the UK’s biggest renewable power generator and the largestdecarbonisation project in Europe.

Its pumped storage, hydro and energy from waste assets in Scotland include Cruachan Power Station – a flexible pumped storage facility within the hollowed-out mountain Ben Cruachan. It also owns and operates four gas power stations in England.

B2B supply:

Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:

  • Haven Power, based in Ipswich, supplies electricity and energy services to large Industrial and Commercial sector businesses.
  • Opus Energy, based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, provides electricity, energy services and gas to small and medium sized (SME) businesses.

Pellet production:

Drax owns and operates three pellet mills in the US South which manufacture compressed wood pellets (biomass) produced from sustainably managed working forests. These pellet mills supply around 20% of the biomass used by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire togenerate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.

For more information visit www.drax.com