Drax has awarded a $1,000 scholarship to an intern who took part in the Ouachita Green “Love Where You Live” program as part of the renewable energy company’s commitment to supporting its surrounding communities.
Drax first partnered with local volunteer organization Ouachita Green in 2018, supporting initiatives such as the “Love Where You Live” internship which provides an opportunity for young people to give back and become more involved with conservation efforts in their communities.
Each year, Ouachita Green holds a ceremony to celebrate the interns, all of whom are high school students, who have volunteered to work for the organization alongside their studies throughout the year. As part of the ceremony, interns who have gone above and beyond to contribute to their local community are awarded scholarships, funded by the program’s sponsors.
Ouachita Green Executive Director Aundi Brown with all the Ouachita Green interns
This year, Ouachita Green Intern Yuri Cobb was awarded the $1,000 Drax Outstanding Intern Scholarship in recognition of her exceptional hard work and dedication to the program.
Yuri, who has committed over 140 hours of community service, said: “It is great to be able to make a difference and give back in my own community with events such as the Litter Cleanups and Water Sweeps. I am planning to use this scholarship for college courses during the next school year.”
Matt White, Executive Vice President of Drax’s Pellet Operations, said: “We’re proud to sponsor the Ouachita Green Internship program, which promotes our shared values of protecting the natural environment and providing educational opportunities. Congratulations to Yuri and all the interns who took part. It’s great to see young people who are passionate about giving back to their local community and conserving areas of natural beauty.”
Ouachita Green Board Member Cameron Brister said: “Our partnership with Drax has enabled us to make serious investments in our community, many of those being programs like our “Love Where You Live” internship. We are always looking to make strong, beneficial community relationships, and Drax has always been a constant for us, ready and more than willing to help.”
Ouachita Green is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to keeping Ouachita Parish beautiful by organizing and participating in community enhancement projects. They advocate for recycling, litter reduction, environmental education and conservation.
Aundi Brown, Executive Director of Ouachita Green, said: “It has been an honor getting to know and work with each of our interns and being able to see them grow and take pride in their community. I can’t wait to see what they all do with their futures.”
Drax is committed to supporting the communities local to its operations and is this year drawing up plans for a more targeted community spend.
In 2021, Drax supported education and skills in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama and provided donations to help communities hit by natural disasters and Covid and work to support sustainable forestry.
In Louisiana, support included Hurricane Ida relief efforts, sponsoring an environmental education workshop for teachers and launching a Classroom of the Month program
ENDS
Photo caption: 1. Drax Communications Officer Annmarie Sartor, Ouachita Green Intern Yuri Cobb and Ouachita Green Executive Director Aundi Brown
2. Ouachita Green Executive Director Aundi Brown with all the Ouachita Green interns
Media contacts:
Megan Hopgood
Communications Officer
T: 07936 350 175
Annmarie Sartor
Communications Officer
T: +1 318 801 0046
Editor’s Notes
- Through its operations in Louisiana and Mississippi, Drax supports more than 1,200 jobs and contributes $175m to the region’s economy.
- This includes more than 1,200 jobs in Louisiana and Mississippi with 300 direct jobs across these two states in Drax’s three pellet mills and at the port of Greater Baton Rouge.
- Drax’s pellet mills also support the wider supply chain of loggers, truckers, railway workers, port workers and other logistics professionals.
About Drax
Drax Group’s purpose is to enable a zero carbon, lower cost energy future and in 2019 announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology.
Drax’s around 3,000 employees operate across three principal areas of activity – electricity generation, electricity sales to business customers and compressed wood pellet production and supply to third parties. For more information visit www.drax.com
Power generation:
Drax owns and operates a portfolio of renewable electricity generation assets in England and Scotland. 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 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. It is also where Drax is piloting the groundbreaking negative emissions technology BECCS within its CCUS (Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage) Incubation Area.
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.
The Group also aims to build on its BECCS innovation at Drax Power Station with a target to deliver 4Mt of negative CO2 emissions each year from new-build BECCS outside of the UK by 2030 and is currently developing models for North American and European markets.
Pellet production and supply:
The Group has 17 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate capacity of 4.6Mt, which will increase to c.5Mt once developments are complete.
Drax is targeting 8Mt of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3Mt of new biomass pellet production capacity. The pellets are produced using materials sourced from sustainably managed working forests and are supplied to third party customers in Europe and Asia for the generation of renewable power.
Drax’s pellet mills supply around 30% of the biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses.
Customers:
Drax is the largest supplier of renewable electricity to UK businesses, supplying 100% renewable electricity as standard to more than 370,000 sites through Drax and Opus Energy.
It offers a range of energy-related services including energy optimisation, as well as electric vehicle strategy and management.
To find out more go to the website www.energy.drax.com
