Archives: Press Release

Motorists saved from flood waters by Drax employees

11 December 2019

Press releases
Glenlee Power Station, part of the Galloway Hydro Scheme owned by Drax.

The first was a man in his 70s who had been stuck in his BMW car for over an hour on the A762 road between Glenlee Power Station and Earlstoun Power Station, when Robert Peacock and Daniel Hunter from Drax arrived on the scene at around 4pm, wading through chest deep water to reach the vehicle.

Robert Peacock, a mechanical fitter at Drax’s Galloway Hydro Scheme, said:

“It was just by chance we came across the elderly gentleman, but he had been stranded in his car in freezing water for an hour. We could not open the doors and ended up having to smash the rear window to gain access and drag him out. I think hypothermia would have set in soon, had we not got to him.”

Robert and Daniel transported the man to the Glenlee Power Station where they provided him with dry clothes to change into and a hot drink before taking him to an ambulance waiting on the other side of the floodwaters, which took him to hospital.The second incident involved a woman with a small child who were trapped inside a car, which had broken down in floodwater on the same road at around the same time. Another Drax team member Rob Little assisted them to safety.

Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Head of Hydro said:

“The quick thinking of the teams at our power stations, their swift response and professionalism helped to prevent these serious incidents resulting in tragedy – we’re very proud of what they did and send our well wishes to the people who were trapped. In both these incidents a significant volume of water had entered the vehicles and the occupants were trapped.”

Glenlee Power Station, part of the Galloway Hydro Scheme owned by Drax.

Glenlee Power Station, part of the Galloway Hydro Scheme owned by Drax; click to view/download

The Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning for the Galloway area, and SEPA had issued several flood warnings on Tuesday due to the volume of rainfall.

Drax’s Galloway hydro scheme produces enough flexible electricity to power more than 90,000 households and includes six power stations, eight dams and a network of tunnels, aqueducts and pipelines. The system helped to absorb some of the rainfall and provide a buffer preventing the flooding from being as severe as it could have been.

Commissioned in the mid-1930s, the Galloway Hydro Scheme was the first large-scale integrated hydro-electric complex to be built in Britain and consists of Glenlee Power Station, near St John’s Town of Dalr which is the nerve centre of the scheme, able to operate the other power stations at Kendoon, Carfad, Earlstoun and Tongland, remotely.

ENDS

Pic captions:

Glenlee Power Station, part of the Galloway Hydro Scheme owned by Drax. View/download main photo.

Media contacts:

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)7712 670 888

Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)7912 230 393

About Drax

Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,900-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.

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 sets world-first ambition to become carbon negative by 2030

10 December 2019

Press releases
Biomass storage domes, Drax Power Station, July 2019

  • Drax will be the first company in the world to announce an ambition to become carbon negative by 2030 when CEO Will Gardiner speaks at COP 25 in Madrid on Tuesday December 10, 2019

  • Using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) Drax will remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it produces, creating a negative carbon footprint for the company.

  • Drax’s ambition is only achievable with an effective negative emissions policy and investment framework. The UK Government is developing those as part of its global leadership in addressing the climate crisis.

Leading British energy company, Drax Group Plc, will be the first company in the world to announce an ambition to become carbon negative when CEO Will Gardiner speaks at a Powering Past Coal Alliance event at COP 25 in Madrid, today (Tuesday December 10, 2019).

He will say that Drax has an ambition to become carbon negative by 2030, but doing so will depend on an effective negative emissions policy and investment framework for new technologies like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS).

CCUS incubation area, Drax Power Station, July 2019

CCUS incubation area, Drax Power Station; click image to view/download

Being carbon negative means that Drax will be removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it produces throughout its operations – creating a negative carbon footprint for the company within a decade.

Drax is already running a successful BECCS pilot at its power station capturing a tonne of carbon dioxide every day. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK Committee on Climate Change agree that BECCS is critical to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Sustainable biomass is an important part of the UK’s long-term energy mix. Combining this renewable fuel with carbon capture and storage technology on Drax’s biomass generating units at its power station in North Yorkshire, England, means the Group’s operations could capture 16 million tonnes of CO2 a year or more – a significant proportion of the UK’s target.

Drax CEO Will Gardiner said:

“Drax’s ambition is to be carbon negative by 2030.  Having pioneered the use of sustainable biomass, Drax now produces 12% of the UK’s renewable electricity. With the right negative emissions policy, we can do much more, removing millions of tonnes of emissions from the atmosphere each year.

Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner standing

Drax CEO Will Gardiner in the control room at Drax Power Station; click image to view/download

“The UK Government is working on a policy and investment framework to encourage negative emissions technologies, which will enable the UK to be home to the world’s first carbon negative company. This is not just critical to beating the climate crisis, but also to enabling a just transition, protecting jobs and creating new opportunities for clean growth – delivering for the economy as well as for the environment.”

In recent years Drax has undergone a world-leading transformation, becoming Europe’s largest decarbonisation project by converting two-thirds of its coal-fired power station to use sustainable biomass. In the first half of 2019, 94% of the power produced by Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, England, was renewable – delivering carbon savings of more than 80% compared to when it only used coal.

The engineering skill and expertise at Drax which enabled this unique transformation is now pioneering ground-breaking negative emissions technologies. Earlier this year Drax became the only power generator in the world to have captured carbon dioxide from a 100% biomass feedstock using BECCS technology, through its successful pilot project.

After closing its remaining two coal generating units at Drax Power Station by 2025 and using carbon capture technology on its biomass power generating units, its operations would become carbon negative by 2030.

Will Gardiner will announce Drax’s ambition when he speaks at COP25 in Madrid. Drax is a member of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, an initiative launched by the UK and Canadian governments, which seeks to end the use of unabated coal in power stations around the world by 2030. The Powering Past Coal Alliance wants to accelerate the transition away from unabated coal and Drax is supporting its work to encourage members to scale up their ambitions, and to create more collaboration, helping prospective new members to move forwards in using cleaner energy.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)7912 230393

Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)7712 670888 

Notes to Editors

Drax CEO Will Gardiner will speak at the Powering Past Coal Alliance event at COP 25 in Madrid, on Tuesday December 10, 2019 at 5.50pm local time (4.50pm GMT). His speech will be published on the Drax website afterwards.

Achieving Drax’s ambition to be a carbon negative company by 2030 is dependent upon it:

  • Closing its two remaining coal generating units at Drax Power Station, which it plans to do by 2025 – consistent with the UK government’s objectives
  • Having at least two biomass generating units operating with BECCS technology running at 90% availability, capturing and storing eight million tonnes of CO2 a year
  • This would more than compensate for Drax’s projected CO2 emissions from its other operations in 2030.

Drax has included all harmful greenhouse gases as defined by the Kyoto Protocol in its calculations.

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard classifies a company’s greenhouse gas emissions into three ‘scopes’. Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources. Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions (not included in scope 2) that occur in the value chain of the reporting company, including both upstream and downstream.

Scope 3 emissions are not included in Drax’s calculations for achieving its carbon negative status in 2030. This is in line with accepted practice globally, based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. However, had its sustainable biomass supply chain emissions been included,  Drax would still be a carbon negative company in 2030.

Drax has signed up to the UN Global Compact Science Based targets which  provides companies with a clearly defined pathway to future-proof growth by specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The target is aligned to the pathway which limits global temperature rise to 1.5°C below pre-industrial levels.

The UK government is currently developing an effective negative emissions policy and  investment framework. Drax believes this should include:

  1. A regulated asset base “RAB” based model to support transport and storage;
  2. Contract for Difference to support BECCS and other negative emissions technologies.
  3. Support for multiple carbon capture clusters in the UK, including Zero Carbon Humber

In September 2019 the UK Government published a report it commissioned from Vivid Economics, an economic consultancy, considering how the UK could deliver up to 130 million tonnes of negative emissions required to achieve net zero by 2050. The report recommended a suite of short and long-term government actions including:

  • Strengthening existing payment schemes for afforestation and habitation restoration
  • Introducing an obligation on fossil fuel suppliers to fund negative emissions technologies
  • Amending the existing Contracts for Difference support scheme in the electricity sector for BECCS and Direct Air Capture projects.

Drax announced it had captured the first carbon dioxide from its pioneering BECCS pilot project earlier this year.

The UK Committee on Climate Change’s ‘Net Zero’ report states that BECCS could generate up to 173 TWh of electricity by 2050, capturing up to 51 million tonnes of CO2 – around half of the remaining carbon in the economy that the UK will need to capture to become ‘net zero’.

Drax launched the Zero Carbon Humber campaign in September with partners Equinor and National Grid Ventures, aimed at creating the world’s first zero carbon industrial cluster in the region.

Drax could use BECCS across all four of its biomass generating units, capturing 16 million tonnes of CO2 a year. As the world’s first negative emissions power station it could be the anchor for a net zero industrial cluster in the Humber region – protecting thousands of jobs, delivering clean growth and new export opportunities for the region.

All major UK political parties have now committed to develop at least one industrial carbon capture storage cluster.

Drax signed up to the Powering Past Coal Alliance in April 2018.

Photo caption/main image: Wood pellet storage domes at Drax Power Station, July 2019. Click to view/download.

About Drax

Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future. Its 2,900-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.

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

Ten times more energy storage needed for Britain to reach net zero climate target

4 December 2019

Press releases
Cruachan hydropower station

  • Energy storage will play a major role in the energy transition supporting renewables like wind and solar power

  • Great Britain could need at least 30GW of energy storage to meet climate goals – ten times the available storage today

  • Energy storage, such as pumped storage hydro and batteries, enables further decarbonisation by providing system services to support more renewables

Across Great Britain, Europe and the US, the need for energy storage is set to soar as more renewables such as wind and solar power, connect to the grid in efforts to meet the net zero carbon targets required to address the climate emergency, according to analysis by Imperial College for Drax Electric Insights.

Britain’s energy storage capacity alone will need to grow to around 30GW or more over the next 20 to 30 years, from 3GW today.

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London and lead author of the quarterly Electric Insights reports said:

“Energy storage is one of the most important issues in the energy industry – it has the potential to dictate the pace, scale and cost of the energy transition. Along with other technologies, such as interconnection and flexible generation, energy storage helps integrate more renewables onto the system, which makes it easier to manage the grid and enables greater decarbonisation at lowest cost.”

Imperial’s analysis shows that, for the current GB electricity mix with a quarter of power coming from variable renewables, every unit of intermittent renewables added to the system requires an additional 0.2 units of energy storage capacity to smooth out intermittency and keep the grid stable.

As the share of wind and solar power rises towards 80% of electricity supplied, every extra unit of intermittent renewables will require 1 unit of energy storage.

Dr Oliver Schmidt, co-author of the report and senior consultant at cleantech advisory Apricum, said:

“This summer’s blackout in Britain highlights the value of having a range of fast-acting technologies and that demand will only grow as older thermal power plants retire and are replaced by intermittent renewables.

“We’ll also need a rapid expansion of other forms of flexibility, such as demand-side response, interconnectors and fast-acting flexible power stations as well as from pumped storage hydro, which is currently the biggest storage technology, and batteries where costs are falling.”

Andy Koss, CEO Generation, Drax, said:

“Pumped storage hydro plays a vital role in the UK’s energy system today – able to reach full load in as little as 30 seconds, it is proven to be able to react quickly to resolve intermittency issues associated with some renewable technologies.

“It’s clear from this Electric Insights report that more energy storage systems are vital to ensure the country has the power it needs in the decades ahead as wind and solar become the biggest sources of electricity. As the leading flexible power generator on Great Britain’s national grid, Drax has opportunities in storage and other technologies to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future.”

The Imperial College study found that variable renewables are providing an increasing share of energy supply, with wind farms alone providing more than half of Britain’s electricity for the first time ever in Q3 2019. This is creating unprecedented challenges in balancing the power system.

Keeping the UK’s power system stable made up a tenth of the total cost of generating electricity and the cost of balancing the power system hit a record high of £3.80/MWh in Q3.

Read the latest Electric Insights report here and download the PDF here. 

ENDS

Media contacts:

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

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

Notes to Editors

  • Imperial College’s analysis looked at 28 scenarios from 24 studies evaluating potential energy storage requirements in Europe and the US. The 24 independent studies forecast how much energy storage would be required depending on the share of demand met by variable renewables such as wind and solar. (figure 1)
  • The studies looked at Europe, Germany, GB and the US. Installed storage capacities are divided by the peak demand for electricity in each region to account for the relative size of countries.[1]
  • 70 to 80 per cent of electricity production from variable renewables would require storage capacity of around a third of peak electricity demand. In the current GB system (60GW peak) this would mean around 20GW of storage. The UK Committee on Climate Change expects that electricity demand will double by 2050, with peak demand rising to 150GW – implying there will be an even greater need for storage.
  • Demand-side response, interconnection or flexible power stations could be deployed to a similar extent, which would reduce the need for additional storage. Although current academic and industrial studies suggest that storage will become the main flexibility technology.
  • Cruachan Power Station, Drax’s pumped storage plant in Scotland, 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.
  • The 440 MW energy storage station has four primary modes of operation – ‘pump’, ‘spin pump’, ‘spin generate’ and ‘generate’ – and can deliver a range of balancing and ancillary services such as frequency management and inertia. Further information on Cruachan’s operations, is available online.
  • A 2016 feasibility study indicated it would be possible to develop 400 MW of additional capacity at Cruachan. Cruachan 2 is on the European Union’s list of projects of common interest. Find out more about Drax’s development options.
  • Previous Electric Insights articles have shown that more flexible generation, storage and demand-side response will be critical to minimising the costs of balancing the grid as increasing power capacity comes from variable renewables.
  • The Q3 2019 Drax Electric Insights report is available under embargo, featuring the following articles:
    • The blackout
    • What next for energy storage?
    • Zero subsidy offshore wind?
    • How much energy storage will we need?
    • Capacity and production statistics
    • Power system records

About Electric Insights

  • Electric Insights is commissioned by Drax and delivered by a team of independent academics from Imperial College London, facilitated by the college’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants. The quarterly report analyses 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 included Professors Richard Green and Tim Green, experts in energy economics and electrical engineering, and Dr Rob Gross who contributed expertise in energy policy.
  • The quarterly reports are backed by an interactive website electricinsights.co.uk which provides data from 2009 until the present.
  • 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.

About Drax

Drax Group’s purpose is enabling 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.

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

[1] Data from multiple sources as cited in the legend, in part compiled by Zerrahn et al., 2018.  On the economics of electrical storage for variable renewable energy sources.

Airedale Junior School visits Europe’s biggest carbon saving project

25 November 2019

Press releases
Airedale Junior School pupils visiting Drax

Over three days, 112 students aged between 10 and 11 visited Drax Power Station, near Selby in North Yorkshire, which has upgraded two thirds of its generating capacity to use compressed wood pellets in place of coal.

This has transformed the plant to become the UK’s largest renewable power generator – producing enough electricity for four million homes – and Europe’s biggest decarbonisation project.

It has also paved the way for Drax to pioneer ground-breaking bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology. If BECCS can be used across all four of its biomass generating units, Drax could become the world’s first negative emissions power station, helping it to make an even greater contribution towards tackling the climate emergency.

Pupils were taken on a full tour of the site including the innovative BECCS pilot plant which is capturing a tonne of CO2 each day, the 427-metre turbine hall that houses the six huge turbines which power the generators to produce electricity.

They also enjoyed a close-up view of the UK’s first wood pellet storage domes, each large enough to fit The Royal Albert Hall inside, and the 12 cooling towers, which at 115 metres high are taller than the Statue of Liberty.

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

“By providing tours at Drax Power Station we want to further students’ understanding of how electricity is produced and hopefully fire their imaginations and inspire them to study STEM subjects by showing them some of the pioneering technologies we’re trying, like BECCS, which could play a vital role in addressing the climate crisis.”

During the tour, pupils learned how renewable electricity is generated and discovered how sustainable, compressed wood pellets have enabled Drax to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 80% compared to when those generating units used coal.

Students from Airedale Junior School standing outside the Biomass Domes at Drax Power Station

Students from Airedale Junior School standing outside the Biomass Domes at Drax Power Station

Louise Clarkson, from Airedale Junior School, who organised the visit, said:

“The students had a great day at Drax, learning about how the electricity system works and where our electricity is generated. Visits like this are so valuable because seeing the power station and the scale of the operations is impossible to replicate in a classroom – it really brings the subject to life.”

Drax has a long tradition of supporting education and helping to inspire the engineers of the future by encouraging greater interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Earlier this year it invested £35,000 in the GreenPower initiative, which helped pupils at seven local schools and colleges assemble electric vehicles from kits for a race in Hull in April.

The Airedale Junior School students are among over 12,000 visitors to Drax every year. Tours are free to all primary and secondary schools and can be tailored to suit the area of the curriculum teachers are interested in.

For further information on school tours at Drax visit the website at www.drax.com.

Top image caption: Students from Airedale Junior School standing outside the Biomass Domes at Drax Power Station

ENDS

Media contacts:

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

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 Women of the Future Event Inspires New Career Paths for the Next Generation

21 November 2019

Press releases
Selby schools female employees visit Drax

Around 100 students aged 14 to 18 from Selby College, Holy Family Catholic High School in Carlton and Selby High School, spent the afternoon at the power plant in Yorkshire where female employees from Drax ran group activities, games and mini workshops at stands to illustrate the skills they use in their daily jobs.

At the event, the girls crowded around stands that highlighted careers in 10 different areas at Drax: Business Ethics, Viable Fuels & Sustainability, Facilities, Procurement, Engineering and Maintenance, Finance, Fuel & Logistics, Research & Innovation, Communications and IT. Community Engagement & Outreach and Human Resources, who organised the event, were also on hand to answer career questions.

Jess Williams, who is studying Mechanical Engineering at Selby College, said:

“Talking to the female engineers made me realise how much there is on offer at Drax and it’s inspired me to apply for an apprenticeship here when I finish college and university. It was great to see how involved the women are in keeping the power station running.”

Ella Parsonag, who is a student at Selby High School, said:

“I think it’s important as a woman to pursue careers in engineering. Such career paths aren’t popular at the moment and I would like to inspire more young women to become part of the engineering industry – there are good opportunities and the world will always need engineers.”

Rosie and Molly, students at Holy Family Catholic High School in Carlton, said it was important for women to get involved and push for the same opportunities as men.

“Just because we’re female doesn’t mean we’re any less entitled to get the job we want in the future,” said Rosie.

Students from Holy Carlton School talking to Natalie Wright, Technical Engineering Trainee, at the Engineering and Maintenance stand.

Alongside the Engineering department’s stand which had a model of how the power station works, the Finance team’s Drax monopoly board illustrated the value of making the right decisions. Research & Innovation’s Top Trumps game focused on evaluating new ideas and projects while Fuel and Logistics showed the steps needed to bring fuel for the power station from Canada and the US.

In the Drax boardroom looking out onto the power station’s cooling towers, the Business & Ethics team challenged the girls to identify the correct response to a hypothetical situation that could be potentially harmful to the company, such as corruption and bribery.

Back in the main room, the communications team helped the girls make their own videos to promote the company externally on social media.

Vicky Bullivant, Drax Group Head of Sustainable Business said:

“We want to inspire the young women of tomorrow and show them the fantastic career opportunities at Drax for people from all backgrounds. Everyone benefits in a diverse and inclusive workplace – it brings new perspectives, ideas and approaches and helps strengthen the company and communities.

“Events like these and the many others we do throughout the year give us the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the communities we operate in.”

Drax has a long tradition of supporting educational initiatives and encouraging interest in science, technology, engineering and maths subjects (STEM) to help inspire the next generation of professionals.

Earlier this year, Drax invested £35,000 in the GreenPower initiative which helped pupils at seven local schools assemble electric vehicles from kits for a race in Hull in April. Drax employees also provided 160 hours of volunteer time to support the students involved in the project.

ENDS

Top image caption: Group picture of students from Selby High School, Selby College and Holy Family Catholic High School in Carlton and Drax staff at the Women of the Future event held at Drax Power Station.

Media contacts:

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

Editor’s Notes 

  • Drax is committed to diversity in the workforce and is a member of several groups to advance gender diversity in energy, science, technology and engineering including POWERful Women, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and Women in Technology.
  • Drax also sponsors the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM.
  • In 2018, around a third of Drax’s 2,700 employees were female. This year Drax took on two female apprentices.
  • Drax’s apprentice scheme has been running for over 15 years across the company’s sites throughout the UK.
  • The apprenticeships are in a variety of departments such as engineering, finance and business.
  • Drax is committed to STEM learning and hosts over 12,000 visits to the power station each year free of charge. These include visits from primary school pupils to degree level students, and all visits are tailored to the level of the visiting school, college or university.
  • Drax has partnerships with the National STEM Learning Centre, The British Science Association, Teach First, Engineering UK, Business in the Community, Selby College and created a Drax cluster of seven schools (primary and secondary), as part of our education outreach programme.
  • 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 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

Britain ranks second to last for power system flexibility in review of nine leading European countries

13 November 2019

Press releases
Hydro, wind and solar energy

  • Britain ranks eighth out of nine northern European countries in attracting and facilitating investment in electricity system flexibility, a new industry report finds

  • Delivering flexibility is crucial to power sector decarbonisation and achieving Net Zero targets

  • Regulatory uncertainty, lack of visibility on returns, and technical challenges connecting to the network are delaying investment in flexibility and could hamper renewables deployment in the 2020s

Regulatory uncertainty, lack of visibility on returns, and technical challenges are impeding investment in flexibility services to support Britain’s electricity network as more renewables come online, risking delays in the transition to a greener future, an industry report said.

The Energy Transition Readiness Index, a report published by the Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology (REA) and commissioned by Eaton and Drax, reviewed regulation and market access, social and political support for the energy transition, and deployment of enabling technologies such as smart meters in nine northern European countries.

Britain, which ranked eighth out of the nine countries in the index, scored poorly on market factors such as a clear and stable regulatory and market framework. The report also highlighted potential difficulties accessing the distribution network and a lack of progress on delivering smart electric vehicle charging.

Overall results of the Energy Transition Readiness Index 2019 are shown in a ranking of countries

Overall results of the Energy Transition Readiness Index illustrated by a country ranking

Flexibility is becoming increasingly important as more variable renewables such as wind and solar replace Britain’s large fossil-fuelled power stations to meet targets to cut carbon emissions. Large generators typically provided flexibility by supplying power during peak demand and ensuring that the system’s voltage and frequency remained within operational limits.

The Netherlands topped the league table of nine countries. Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland and Norway also scored high, while Germany, Britain and France lagged.

Dr Nina Skorupska, Chief Executive of the REA said:

“Decarbonising power means delivering flexibility. In a world of very low-cost variable renewable electricity generation, grids need to be organised differently and some services which were once taken for granted need to be actively procured.

“Crucially, as renewable power prices fall around the world every country will be experiencing the same shift. If Britain becomes a flexibility pioneer, then a whole world of markets for exporting our products and services opens up. Whilst this index shows we’re lagging behind, there’s still time to bounce back.

“That’s why the REA is calling for the next government to address the barriers to flexibility by delivering wholesale systems change and reform Ofgem as a priority.”

Drax Head of Strategy Robert Riley said:

“Flexibility is essential to enable net-zero carbon in Britain for 2050. It reduces the risks of power cuts and builds resilience into the grid so that the system can handle the volume of intermittent renewables that we’ll need. Without these flexibility services, it’s going to be much harder, and more costly, to transition to a cleaner electricity system.

“There’s a huge potential for innovative flexible technologies to play a role. More could be done to provide a level playing field, and clarity on business models so that they can contribute to the zero-carbon ambition.”

Drax already provides a number of flexibility services in the UK, including frequency management, inertia and reserve power from its biomass-powered plant in Yorkshire, hydro in Scotland and is looking to provide further flexibility services including from rapid response gas plants.

Eaton Head of Energy Storage Business Fabrice Roudet said:

“We welcome Britain’s ambition and its strong policy commitment to decarbonisation, encouraging new flexibility technologies and business models. However, we urgently need more clarity and an end to the flux to provide the certainty needed to spur private investment in the new technologies that will be required to ease the transition to a high-renewable energy future.”

Robert Hull, author of the report said:

“In Britain, the strong ambition for the energy transition and growing flexibility markets hasn’t yet translated into the market and regulatory framework, which is complex and slow to change.”

ENDS

Media contacts:

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

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

Amy MacConnachie
REA Head of External Affairs
E: [email protected]
T: 07903510060

Vera Grishchenko
Eaton PR Manager EMEA
E: [email protected]
T: 07583090560

Editor’s Notes

  • Drax is working with Eaton to supply energy storage to small businesses.
  • Pairing energy storage with on-site micro renewables such as wind and solar helps maximise the value of the renewable energy and gives customers more flexibility.
  • Robert Hull, who authored the report, is an industry leader with over 30 years’ experience, including at Ofgem, National Grid and consultancy KPMG.
  • The report was based on contributions from utilities, industry associations, grid operators, energy technology companies and academics in northern Europe as well as publicly available data on the sector.
  • The northern European countries were selected for their similar ambitions on the energy transition.

The Index ranked the countries as follows:

  1. The Netherlands
  2. Finland
  3. Sweden
  4. Denmark
  5. Ireland
  6. Norway
  7. Germany
  8. Great Britain
  9. France

Case study on battery energy storage

Drax has partnered with Eaton to supply and connect battery storage systems to small businesses that are already customers of Drax, such as farms and offices, so they can store power generated from on-site micro renewables like wind turbines and solar.

This allows Drax’s customers to maximise the value of the renewable energy they generate, either using it when it is required or selling it back to the grid during peak demand.

Drax and Eaton have connected three Eaton xStorage Buildings storage systems and are installing another five by the end of this year and four early next year with a total capacity of around 600 kWh. These are a mix of 40 kWh and 80 kWh capacity from new and second-life batteries.

About REA

The REA is the UK’s largest trade association for renewable energy and clean technologies with around 550 members operating across heat, transport, and power. The REA is a not-for-profit organisation that represents renewable energy and clean technology companies operating in over fourteen sectors, ranging from biogas and renewable fuels to solar and electric vehicle charging. Membership ranges from major multinationals to sole traders.

For more information, visit: www.r-e-a.net

About Eaton

Eaton is a power management company with 2018 sales of $21.6 billion. We provide energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably. Eaton is dedicated to improving the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. Eaton has approximately 100,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.

For more information, visit www.eaton.com.

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.

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.

For more information visit www.drax.com

REA General Election 2019 manifesto top level asks:

  • Ensure that the funding, integrated planning and delivery of the wholesale systems change that’s needed to decarbonise the economy sits with No 10 and the Cabinet Office. An independent body with strong enforcement capabilities should be appointed to ensure the Government produces policy that supports decarbonisation in line with the Carbon Budgets and advice of the Committee on Climate Change.
  • Ensure that renewable energy and clean technology are central to a Net Zero Treasury test, as set by Committee on Climate Change and enforced by an independent body, for Government funding; and that the Treasury implements a more effective taxation system that incentivises these technologies instead of fossil fuels.
  • Reform Ofgem, in part by including decarbonisation as a central mandate, alongside consumer protection, and ensure energy network operators are sufficiently incentivised to modernise the energy systems so that they can deliver a major expansion of renewable energy generation capacity and meet the 5th Carbon Budget.
  • Help local authorities to reach Net Zero by providing ring-fenced funding for measuring and reporting on progress on the number of zero-carbon buildings, energy efficiency, effective waste management, decarbonising transport fleets while valuing soil quality and natural capital.
  • Deliver a just transition by developing a workforce strategy that supports the renewable energy and clean technology sector to provide high-quality skilled jobs for existing fossil fuel sector workers transitioning to the new economy, and future workers, across the UK.

ENDS

Doncaster engineering apprentice wins Drax award

30 October 2019

Press releases
Apprenticeships award evening 2019

Lewis Marran, aged 21 from Doncaster, was named Maintenance Apprentice of the Year (year 1) and was commended by the judges for his excellent attitude and keen desire to learn. His award win comes after he was named the Business Apprentice of the Year in 2017.

Having completed an 18-month apprenticeship in procurement at Drax, Lewis decided to move to his current role as a technical apprentice. Growing up in an engineering family, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his older brother who works as a craftsman at Drax.

Lewis, currently in his second year, said:

“Getting this award so early in my apprenticeship feels great. Working for a company with such ambitious plans and knowing that I’m a part of those plans – as well as working with such a great team is really exciting. I’m looking forward to what the rest of my apprenticeship and time at Drax holds.”

L-R: Mike Maudsley, Lewis Marran and Harry Gration

Mike Maudsley, Drax’s UK Portfolio Generation Director, said of the apprentice awards:

“Inspiring young people and supporting them in their early careers is essential for our business’ future. Each new cohort of apprentices brings enthusiasm and fresh ideas and we want to make sure we’re championing them.

“These awards come straight after Drax doubled the number of apprentices it hired in the space of just two years, reflecting our continued commitment to increasing education and skills across our region.”

The awards were presented by BBC Look North’s Harry Gration with 34 existing and 5 graduating apprentices attending the event along with their mentors and managers.

This year’s winners were:

  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 1 – Lewis Marran from Doncaster
  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 2 – Max Shaw from Gateforth
  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 4 – Josh O’Rourke from Goole
  • Business Apprentice of the Year 2019 and winner of the Paul Chambers Outstanding Achievement Award – Thomas Hughes from Goole
  • Uniper Engineering Academy Apprentice of the Year 2019 – Kai Lewis from Selby

Drax’s technical apprenticeship schemehelps new recruits gain skills and expertise by working alongside engineers who have helped transform the business into the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.

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

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

ENDS

View Selby awards press release.

View Goole awards press release.

Media contacts:

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

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

 Editor’s Notes

  • 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 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.

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

Goole apprentice wins Drax award two years running

Press releases
Apprenticeships award evening 2019

Thomas Hughes, aged 27 from Goole, won the Business Apprentice of the Year Award 2019 and the Paul Chambers Outstanding Achievement Award of the Year. This comes after he won the Business Apprentice Award last year in 2018. Josh O’Rourke, was named Maintenance Apprentice of the Year (Year 4).

Having completed two years of his financial apprenticeship, Thomas is set to finish this December. He hopes to continue working at Drax, following in the footsteps of his father who has worked at Drax for 30 years, and his grandfather who also worked at the power station for 22 years. He said:

“It’s a great feeling to have been selected now two years in a row. Drax is a company I already feel like I’ve learned a lot with and I’m looking forward to developing even further as my apprenticeship is coming to an end and my career progresses from here.”

L-R: Mike Maudsley, Thomas Hughes and Harry Gration

The awards were presented by BBC Look North’s Harry Gration with 34 current and 5 graduating apprentices attending the event along with their mentors and managers.

Mike Maudsley, Drax’s UK Portfolio Generation Director, said of the apprentice awards:

“Inspiring young people and supporting them in their early careers is essential for our business’ future. Each new cohort of apprentices brings enthusiasm and fresh ideas and we want to make sure we’re championing them.

“These awards come after Drax doubled the number of apprentices it hired in the space of just two years, reflecting our continued commitment to increasing education and skills across our region.”

This year’s winners were:

  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 1 – Lewis Marran from Doncaster
  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 2 – Max Shaw from Gateforth, near Selby
  • Maintenance Apprentice of the Year 2019 Year 4 – Josh O’Rourke from Goole
  • Business Apprentice of the Year 2019 and the Paul Chambers Outstanding Achievement Award – Thomas Hughes from Goole
  • Uniper Engineering Academy Apprentice of the Year 2019 – Kai Lewis from Selby

As well as its technical apprenticeship scheme, Drax offers apprenticeships in business support areas, such as Finance and Business Administration. All opportunities are advertised on our website.

ENDS

View Selby awards press release.

View Doncaster awards press release.

Media contacts:

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

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

 Editor’s Notes

  • 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 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.

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