We believe investing in our people goes hand-in-hand with enabling the green energy transformation and positive future growth.
We believe investing in our people goes hand-in-hand with enabling the green energy transformation and positive future growth.
We’re committed to enabling a zero carbon, lower cost energy future through engineering, technology and innovation.
We’re building for a sustainable future in how we source our biomass, generate energy, remove carbon dioxide and function as a business.
Read our carbon capture, sustainable bioenergy and power generation stories, as well as thinking from Drax’s leaders and business updates.
Explore a comprehensive guide to our business model and investor relations.
Drax Group’s ambition is to become a carbon negative business by 2030, through innovative greenhouse gas removal technology.
We believe investing in our people goes hand-in-hand with enabling the green energy transformation and positive future growth.
“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.”
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.
“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.
Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888
Selina Williams
Drax Group Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07912230393
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:
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
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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.
“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
Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888
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.
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
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:
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.
“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.
“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
Matt Willey
Drax Group External Affairs Director
E: [email protected]
T: 07711376087
Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355
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.
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.
Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:
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
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.
“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.”
“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.”
“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
Matt Willey
Drax Group External Affairs Director
E: [email protected]
T: 07711376087
Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355
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.
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.
Drax owns two B2B energy supply businesses:
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
His Excellency Mr Tulga Narkhuu and the Mongolian delegation were interested to learn more about Cruachan as Mongolia begins its transition to a low carbon energy system.
The Mongolian authorities recognise the value of pumped hydro, and wanted to see it in action at Cruachan. At present the country relies heavily on coal-fired power stations for its electricity but is actively decarbonising and transitioning towards using more renewables like wind and solar.
Mongolia has a wealth of natural resources including mountainous terrain – ideal for the development of both run-of-river hydro power stations and pumped storage hydro facilities.
Cruachan is one of only four pumped storage hydro 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 turbine hall is located 1km within the hollowed-out mountain of Ben Cruachan and houses four generators, supplying a range of vital balancing and ancillary services to the grid, helping to maintain secure power supplies.
“As the first plant of its type in the UK, Cruachan has been providing stability and storage to the power network since 1965. That Mongolia is going through a similar energy transition to the one the UK has been on, gave us a prime opportunity, as a member of the government’s Power Past Coal Alliance to share the learnings and expertise we’ve built up over the decades with the Ambassador and his colleagues.
“Services such as those which Cruachan provides are of growing importance as we transition to a system with more renewables.”
The visit was supported by the UK government’s Department for International Trade.
L-R: Keiron Hanson, Director Hydroplan; Tulga Narkhuu, Mongolia Ambassador to the UK; Elbegsaikhan Ayush, Head of Department for International Trade, Ulaanbaatar Mongolia; Bavuudorj Ovgor, Director of Renewable Energy division, Ministry of Energy, Mongolia; Ganzorigt Luvsanjamba, Solar Tech Independent Power Producer, Naranteeg Mongolia
ENDS
Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888
Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355
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.
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
Drax wants to hear from budding engineers in the Argyll and Bute area interested in an exciting vacancy for an apprentice engineer role at one of its most iconic power stations.
The UK’s biggest renewable power generator acquired a portfolio of generation assets in Scotland at the beginning of this year and has reinstated an apprenticeship scheme as part of its efforts to support education and learning and encourage science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.
It is appointing five apprentice engineers at its Scottish sites, including one at Cruachan power station in Argyll and Bute.
This is the final call for applicants to get in touch for the role at the pumped storage hydro power station, also known as the Hollow Mountain, as a result of the feat of engineering required to bury its turbines within the stunning Ben Cruachan mountain.
“At our power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, we understand that attracting ambitious apprentices to learn from our world class engineers is helping us to retain and develop a skilled workforce for the future. And we want to do the same at our Scottish sites – including at Cruachan.
“The opportunity at Cruachan really is a plum role – the successful candidate will get to work with a fantastic team of engineers on some exciting engineering challenges at what is one of the most fascinating power stations in the world. I encourage anyone thinking about a career in engineering to get in touch.”
Drax’s apprenticeship scheme has been running for over fifteen years at the Selby plant, but, since the acquisition of a portfolio of thermal and hydro assets, it has started to expand the scheme across the other sites including at Cruachan.
“Ever since we started our apprenticeship programme over fifteen years ago, we’ve seen the value that these ambitious young people bring to our business. We’re excited to now be recruiting apprentices across our expanded portfolio, including at Cruachan which plays a critical role in not only our business but also across the wider electricity system.
“We’ll continue to support young people from our local communities to help build a sustainable workforce with the right skills at all levels.”
The Drax Apprenticeship Training Scheme is a four-year programme, and specialises in three engineering disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical and Control & Instrumentation.
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
Ali Lewis
Drax Group Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712670888
Joshua Atkins
Drax Group Press Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07970256355
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
