Archives: Press Release

Drax Biomass, one of the largest employers in Morehouse Parish, today donated $10,000 to Bastrop-based Care and Hope Ministry to assist victims of the recent flooding.

The funds will support Care and Hope Ministry’s ongoing relief efforts, which include providing shelter to displaced residents in the First Baptist Church’s gym, offering free clothes and household items at the Ministry’s thrift store, and serving free food and water through the Ministry’s food pantry.

“We depend on the generosity of individuals and the business community to sustain our operations. With the support of Drax Biomass and other donors, we’re able to deliver aid to those hardest hit by the flooding.”

— Pam Walker, Executive Director of Care and Hope Ministry

Parish residents in need of temporary shelter should visit First Baptist Church at 620 East Madison Avenue in downtown Bastrop. Residents in need of food, water, clothing or other items should visit the Care and Hope Ministry Thrift Store and Food Pantry at 2038 East Madison Ave. in the Pines Shopping Center. Donations are also welcome at both locations.

“This is a difficult time for our employees and their families, but we know there are others who are far worse off. Our community is fortunate to have the support of Care and Hope Ministry, and I’m hopeful this donation will extend the reach of that support.”

— Gavin Black, plant manager for Drax Biomass’s Morehouse Bioenergy facility in Beekman

An independent report published today has revealed consumers could save more than £2 billion if the Government’s planned renewable energy auctions are opened up to include a wider mix of technologies. Drax commissioned NERA Economic Consulting and Imperial College to look at hidden costs that are not reflected in the contracts Government awards for renewable generation.

These hidden costs, or whole system costs are increasing as intermittent renewables – those reliant on the sun and wind – increase. These intermittent renewables mean other forms of power generation need to kick in, and flex up and down to meet electricity demand. These costs are passed on to consumers via their energy bills.

Currently the Government is planning three auctions for new renewable energy contracts – Contracts for Difference (CfDs) – planned over the next four years, and all are focused on offshore wind. The new research shows significant differences in the true costs of renewables once these additional costs are recognised. Offshore wind could require a CfD of £127 per MWh, onshore wind £92-97 per MWh, solar £96 per MWh, and biomass £84 per MWh.

Once these new support levels are modelled over the planned energy auctions, the new energy mix that could win contracts is shown to save consumers £1.9 -£2.2 billion. This support is already paid for through energy bills and the new cost-efficient mix would lessen the impact.

Drax Group CEO, Dorothy Thompson said:

“This independent research shows it’s crucial we get the right mix of energy generation.  The UK’s system faces growing challenges, from costs to reliability as traditional forms of generation are replaced with renewables.

“Intermittent renewables like wind and solar are vital as we continue to clean up energy generation, but they need to be backed up by a constant supply of electricity that can be flexed up and down to make sure the UK’s businesses and households always have power on demand.

“Opening up energy auctions to include other renewables could save consumers £2 billion and with more biomass in the mix energy security is also boosted.  Using the latest technology we’ve upgraded half our power station to run on compressed wood pellets, which give an 80% plus carbon saving against coal. With the right support we stand ready to finish the job.”

NERA Economic Consulting Associate Director, Daniel Radov, added:

“NERA Economic Consulting is pleased to be able to continue its partnership with Imperial College in modelling the total costs of different power generation technologies, and in helping to inform the policy discussion around renewable energy and decarbonisation.

“To ensure that we achieve environmental targets as efficiently as possible, it is essential to have policies in place that provide the right incentives to minimise costs. We hope the combination of Imperial’s whole-system energy modelling with NERA’s ability to model the details of the CfD auctions will contribute to a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different policy approaches.”

ENDS

Contact

Drax

Paul Hodgson
+44 1757 612026
[email protected]

NERA

David Tomlinson
+44 20 7659 8752
Mobile: +44 7919 398079
[email protected]

Notes to Editors

• NERA Economic Consulting is a global firm of experts dedicated to applying economic, finance, and quantitative principles to complex business and legal challenges. NERA brings academic rigor, objectivity, and real world industry experience to bear on issues arising from competition, regulation, public policy, strategy, finance, and litigation across many sectors including energy, infrastructure and the environment. Imperial College London is a respected academic institution with experience of energy system modelling. They were chosen to ensure the modelling would be consistent with the work they produced for the Committee on Climate Change on the same topic in 2015.
• The report focuses on Whole System Costs. Whole System Costs (WSC) are simply the sum of the Levelised Cost of Energy and the associated System Integration Costs for a given technology (i.e. WSC = LCOE + SIC).
• The Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) is the cost of building, maintaining and operating a generation asset (i.e. power station/wind farm/solar park) over the life of the asset.  This is the figure that is currently factored into CfD auction bids. System Integration Costs (SIC) represent the additional expense of operating the electricity network as a result of those assets participating in the GB electricity market. These costs include maintaining sufficient levels of backup capacity (system reliability) and managing flows on the transmission network (system balancing). Different technologies (e.g. wind, solar, biomass, etc.) have different impacts on total System Integration Costs, depending on their reliability, flexibility and location on the system.
• The Government has committed to support offshore wind capacity in the next three CfD auctions to promote technological learning and cost reduction in that technology.  This analysis proposes that a proportion of the offshore wind budget is protected in each auction to promote such benefits. The analysis demonstrates that opening a proportion of the budget to full, technology neutral competition could reduce costs to consumers by up to £2.2bn.

Report

Click here to view the NERA Economic Consulting report

About Drax

Drax Group plc is an innovative energy company that owns and operates the UK’s largest power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, typically providing some 8% of the UK’s electricity. A vital strategic asset, the Group has transformed itself into a predominantly biomass-fuelled electricity generator through its use of innovative technology and sustainably sourced wood pellets. The largest decarbonisation project in Europe is underway to provide the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group employs around 1,400 people and also includes:

Drax Biomass, based in the US focused on the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements.

Haven Power, the Group’s retail arm, providing business electricity contracts that are simple, flexible and designed to customers specific requirements.

Billington Bioenergy, is one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK.

Selby, Yorkshire: Drax is offering the chance to sit with the driver in the cab of a real biomass train on its journey to deliver compressed wood pellets from one of its four ports to the UK’s largest power station.

The winner of the first prize in the competition will also receive a set of two limited edition Hornby biomass wagons presented by Andy Koss, Chief Executive of Drax Power, and will be taken on a VIP tour of the biomass unloading facilities. Three runner up winners will each receive the limited edition Hornby biomass wagon set.

Drax processes and compresses low grade wood into small high-density pellets, turning humans’ oldest renewable energy source into a fuel that is modern and highly efficient.  The majority of the compressed pellets are imported from the huge working forests of North America which are expanding year on year. Drax’s new energy source is made from the residues and thinnings left from industries that have no use for them.

Our specially designed trains move millions of small pellets from four UK ports – Hull, Immingham, Liverpool and Tyne – to our power station with a minimal cost and environmental impact. Hornby has released two special edition model wagons in ‘OO’ gage. They have been commissioned by Drax and only 2,000 have been produced. The wagons are currently available for pre-order here, and 10% of all profits received will be donated to the Railway Benefit Fund.

To enter the competition, email [email protected] with your name, age, phone number, postal address, and answer to this question:

Which four UK ports do Drax biomass trains pick up compressed wood pellets from before travelling to Drax Power station to generate 4% of the UK’s electricity?

The competition closing date is Friday, 12^th February and the winners will be chosen the following week.

Please see below for competition terms and conditions before entering. 

The largest ever rail freight wagons in the UK, our biomass wagons, were designed by Lloyd’s Register Rail and manufactured by WH Davis. The current fleet of more than 200 wagons have travelled huge distances across the UK to help Drax move away from coal and become a predominantly biomass electricity generator, making it Europe’s largest decarbonisation project. The wagons are 30 per cent larger than any other rail freight wagon currently used in the UK, and are able to carry a biomass load weighing 71.6 tonnes.

Contact

Jennifer Davies
Press Officer
+44 1757 612084
[email protected]

Notes to Editors

Photos

High resolution photos of the special edition Hornby wagons and the real biomass trains can be downloaded at: www.drax.com/us/media

Videos

Films and animations explaining our transformation from coal to renewable biomass can be viewed on YouTube and downloaded via Vimeo.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3G6XjBeWTx09LQtUT2oq2Q

https://vimeo.com/draxgroup

About the special edition Hornby wagons

Hornby has released 2,000 special edition wagons. Two models are available: a hopper with a ‘swoosh’ paint design (Cat No. R6723) and another in the Powering Tomorrow scheme (R6724). To pre-order the wagons, please click here

About Drax

Drax Group plc is an innovative energy company that owns and operates the UK’s largest power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, typically providing some 8% of the UK’s electricity. A vital strategic asset, the Group has transformed itself into a predominantly biomass-fuelled electricity generator through its use of innovative technology and sustainably sourced wood pellets. The largest decarbonisation project in Europe is underway to provide the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group employs around 1,400 people and also includes:

Drax Biomass, based in the US focused on the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements.

Haven Power, the Group’s retail arm, providing business electricity contracts that are simple, flexible and designed to customers specific requirements.

Billington Bioenergy, is one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK.

For more information visit www.drax.com/us  

About the Railway Benefit Fund

The RBF supports current and former railway staff and their dependants when they need help through illness, injury, bereavement, or adversity. Nobody can predict the future, and offering that peace of mind within your industry is a charity that may be able to help you.

The charity’s grants and support amounted to almost £362,130 in 2013, and supported over 500 people.

The charity has been helping railway people for over 150 years, improving the quality of life of current and former railway people in the UK through the provision of customised support. Assistance is provided in many forms, on a short or long term basis and is specifically tailored to an individual’s situation.

For more information please visit https://www.railwaybenefitfund.org.uk/

Competition Terms & Conditions

Qualifying Entrants

• Entry is open to residents of the United Kingdom who are 18+ years old. Proof of identity and age may be required
• Employees of Drax Group plc and their immediate families are not eligible to enter the competition
• For safety reasons, entrants must be able bodied in order to ride in the cab of the biomass train
• No purchase is required for the competition
• To enter, please submit your answer to the competition question above, along with your name, age, phone number and postal address to [email protected] by Friday 12^th February
• Only one entry is allowed per person. Multiple entries will be disregarded

Competition winners

• All prize winners will be chosen at random the week commencing Monday 15^thFebruary 2016
• First prize is to sit in the cab with the driver of a real biomass train along the journey of port to Drax Power Station in Selby, Yorkshire. In addition, the winner will also receive a set of limited edition Hornby biomass wagons presented by Andy Koss, Chief Executive of Drax Power, and will be taken on a VIP tour of the biomass unloading facilities
• The winner will join the train along the journey of port to Drax Power Station – further details of which will be confirmed with the winner once chosen
• The three runner up winners will each receive a set of limited edited Hornby biomass wagons
• The prizes are as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered
• The winner of the first prize and the three runners up agree to the use of their name, photograph and disclosure of county of residence relating to any post-winning publicity
• The winners will be contacted via phone and/or email
• If the winner(s) cannot be contacted, or are unable to comply with these terms and conditions, Drax reserves the right to draw new winners
• All four winners will be publically announced via Drax’s twitter account on the week commencing Monday 22^nd February 2016
• For the winner of the first prize, travel will be arranged and paid for by Drax to the starting point of the biomass train journey (to be specified by Drax) and from Drax Power Station in Selby, Yorkshire

Entry into the competition is deemed as acceptance of all terms and conditions

The Board of Drax Group plc is pleased to announce that Will Gardiner has been appointed as Finance Director.

His appointment will take effect on 16 November 2015. He will succeed Tony Quinlan, who resigned as a director of the Company on 31 May 2015. Michael Scott, who has been Interim Finance Director since Tony’s resignation, will continue in that role until Will takes up his appointment.

Will has been Chief Financial Officer of CSR plc, a global semiconductor business, since 2008. CSR was acquired by Qualcomm Inc. on 13 August 2015. He had previously been a Divisional Finance Director of BSKYB and Chief Financial Officer of Easynet Group plc. Will graduated from Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities, and spent the early part of his career in corporate finance with Citibank and JP Morgan.

Commenting on the appointment Phil Cox, Chairman of Drax, said:
“The Directors are delighted to welcome Will to the Board of Drax. He brings a wealth of experience and skills, and will be a strong addition to the Drax team. I also extend the directors’ thanks to Michael Scott who has done an excellent job as Interim Finance Director.”

ENDS

Contact

Andrew Brown
Director of Communications
+44 1757 612 165
+44 7721 513 777
[email protected]

Notes to Editors

Photo

A high resolution photo of Mr Gardiner is available via Dropbox and at: www.drax.com/us/news/media-images

About Drax

Drax Group plc is an innovative energy company that owns and operates the UK’s largest power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, typically providing some 8% of the UK’s electricity. A vital strategic asset, the Group is transforming itself into a major biomass fuelled electricity generator through its use of innovative technology and sustainably sourced biomass. The largest decarbonisation project in Europe is underway to provide the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group employs around 1400 people and also includes:

Drax Biomass, based in the US focused on the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements.

Haven Power, the Group’s retail arm, providing business electricity contracts that are simple, flexible and designed to customers specific requirements.

Billington Bioenergy, is one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK.

Selby, Yorkshire: Drax today announced it remained committed to fulfilling its current work on a Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) feasibility and technology development project (FEED), but once completed, would not be investing further and will withdraw as a partner of Capture Power Ltd, the developer of the White Rose CCS project.

The two year project is being taken forward by the Capture Power partnership – made up of Drax, Alstom and BOC and is looking at the potential to capture up to 90% of carbon emissions from a new coal fired power station and safely store them beneath the North Sea. The project is due to conclude during the next 6-12 months.

Drax has also confirmed that while at that point it would cease to commit further investment, it will continue to make the site owned by Drax, along with the infrastructure at the Power Plant, available for the project to be built.

Drax Group Operations Director, and Capture Power Board Director, Pete Emery said:

“We remain fully committed to completing what we’ve signed up to – the completion of a study into the feasibility and development of world leading technology that could result in dramatic reductions in carbon emissions produced by power stations and heavy industry.

“We are confident the technology we have developed has real potential, but have reluctantly taken a decision not to invest any further in the development of this project. The decision is based purely on a drastically different financial and regulatory environment and we must put the interests of the business and our shareholders first.

“We will focus our resources on the areas which we can deliver best value, particularly working with Government to explore the potential for converting a fourth generating unit to run on sustainable biomass.

“Drax still believes this project has great potential and we have announced that the site at the Drax Power Plant, along with our existing infrastructure remain available for the project to be built.”

ENDS

Contacts

Paul Hodgson
Head of Media Relations
+44 1757 612 026
+44 7525 590 271
[email protected]

Andrew Brown
Director of Communications
+44 1757 612 165
+44 7721 513 777
[email protected]

About Drax Group plc

Drax Group plc is an innovative energy company that owns and operates the UK’s largest power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, typically providing some 8% of the UK’s electricity. A vital strategic asset, the Group is transforming itself into a major biomass fuelled electricity generator through its use of innovative technology and sustainably sourced biomass. The largest decarbonisation project in Europe is underway to provide the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.
The Group employs around 1400 people and also includes:

Drax Biomass, based in the US focused on the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements.

Haven Power, the Group’s retail arm, providing business electricity contracts that are simple, flexible and designed to customers specific requirements.

Billington Bioenergy, is one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK.

For more information visit draxbiomass.wpengine.com

Some 60 aspiring young artists in the Goole and Selby area attended Summer Art and Crafts schools at Drax Power Station this week to brush up on their artistic abilities and creative talent.

The free events, held over three days were run by David Anderson, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  David, who is a skilled artist, designer and illustrator created the activities for the three days as well as giving advice and demonstrations in drawing and painting techniques.

The children aged 7 to 10 learnt how to transfer their designs on to a variety of items including porcelain mugs and linen bags, as well as moulding scenes from air-dry clay and personalising their own apron. A Master Class for 11 to 14 year-olds helped them learn simple yet effective drawing and painting techniques, resulting in their very own watercolour masterpiece.

David Anderson said: “It’s fantastic to see the enthusiasm, imagination and creativity displayed over the three days. Both age groups were keen to try out different ideas and worked hard to improve their skills, techniques and knowledge.”

The Summer Art schools are now in their eighth year and are organised by Drax to build on its Art in the Community scheme to encourage and develop art appreciation as part of the company’s support for education and to promote art learning within the National Curriculum.

For more information, please contact:

Mandy Empson, Drax

01757 618381

About Drax

Drax Group plc is an innovative energy company that owns and operates the UK’s largest power station in Selby, North Yorkshire, typically providing some 8% of the UK’s electricity. A vital strategic asset, the Group is transforming itself into a major biomass fuelled electricity generator through its use of innovative technology and sustainably sourced biomass. The largest decarbonisation project in Europe is underway to provide the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group employs around 1400 people and also includes:

Drax Biomass, based in the US focused on the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements.

Haven Power, the Group’s retail arm, providing business electricity contracts that are simple, flexible and designed to their specific requirements.

Billington Bioenergy, is one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK.

New research commissioned by Drax has revealed 31% of people are willing to pay nearly £10 more on average to support green energy. They are clear this would be on top of the amount already paid through their energy bills to encourage the shift to low-carbon energy sources.

The ComRes survey shows there is very little understanding of the proportion of an energy bill that goes towards green energy, with the majority saying they don’t know and 17% saying it’s more than £100.

When the actual average amount on a bill was revealed to the respondents – £62 – a surprising number said they were prepared to pay more. While the average was nearly an extra £10, one in five said they’d be willing to contribute more than an extra £20.

But this willingness is conditional. In return bill payers want to see renewables investment go into reliable technologies that are affordable and offer value for money. The survey showed that 35% of Britons ranked value for money or affordability for customers highest out of a range of options the government should prioritise, including impact on the landscape, impact on the local economy and ability to safeguard jobs. Reliability of supply had the third highest level of support, with 15% ranking it in first place.

This research is published as the new Conservative government reaffirms its commitment to going green and tackling climate change, but is clearly emphasising this must be done in the most affordable way possible.

Drax Group CEO, Dorothy Thompson said:

“It’s clear a significant number of people are prepared to pay more to boost green energy in the fight to tackle climate change.
“However it’s also clear they are not prepared to write a ‘blank cheque’ and want guarantees that anything extra must be spent on green energy generation that is affordable and reliable.

“At Drax we’re leading Europe’s largest decarbonisation project and already meeting these ‘consumer asks’ as we take coal off the system and replace it with sustainable biomass that continues to provide a 24/7 source of electricity that doesn’t break the bank.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

DECC’s latest Bills & Prices report estimates that consumers pay an average £62 per year on their energy bills to support green energy:

https://www.gov.uk/policy-impacts-on-prices-and-bills

ComRes data are from two surveys, data for both were weighted to be representative of all GB adults aged 18+:

• ComRes interviewed 2,015 GB adults online between 17th and 18th June 2015.
• A further 2,052 GB adults were interviewed online by ComRes between 8th and 9th July 2015.
• ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Data tables are available on the ComRes website, www.comres.co.uk

Contacts:

Paul Hodgson
Head of Media Relations
+44 1757 612 026
+44 7525 590 271
[email protected]

Luther Pendragon
+44 (0) 20 7618 9137
[email protected]

A three year partnership between Lloyds Register Rail, UK manufacturer WH Davis and Drax has reached a significant milestone as Drax takes delivery of its 200th specially designed biomass rail freight wagon.

The partnership, which has pushed the boundaries of rail engineering and lead to the design and manufacturing of the largest ever rail freight wagons in the UK, has played a major role in ongoing developments in Drax’s supply chain as part of its conversion to burning sustainable biomass in place of coal – a process which has seen Drax transform from the UK’s largest emitter of CO2 to Europe’s largest decarbonisation project.

Since entering operations in 2013, the wagons, designed by Lloyd’s Register Rail and manufactured by WH Davis, have collectively travelled over 12 million miles between the Ports of Tyne, Hull and Immingham and Drax. Over the course of these journeys they have transported around 4.5 million tonnes of sustainable biomass – enough to power 2.5 million homes with low carbon, affordable and reliable renewable electricity. The wagons are 30 per cent larger than any other rail freight wagon currently used in the UK, and are able to carry a biomass load weighing 71.6 tonnes.

Peter Emery, Group Operations Director of Drax Group plc said: “This milestone demonstrates the sheer scale of our decarbonisation project as we replace coal with sustainable biomass providing a reliable and affordable source of electricity.

“Lloyds Register Rail and WH Davis have been important partners in the development of our biomass operations. The delivery of our 200th wagon marks a major stage in a process which has been a huge success both in terms of modifications to Drax’s supply chain and for UK engineering as a whole.”

Mark Jackson, Managing Director of W H Davis said: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved for Drax, providing UK manufactured wagons which set the standard for wagon manufacture and enable Drax to receive volumes of biomass which would be impracticable by road.

“Our subsidiary, Davis Wagon Services, is supporting Drax with maintenance of the wagons and is working with Drax to establish a dedicated maintenance facility, ensuring maximum fleet availability.”

ENDS

Biomass Wagon – technical specification

1. Unique sole-bar design
2. Length over buffers 18.880m
3. Bogie centres 10.8m
4. Volume/Capacity 116m^3
5. Gauge W6a (W6b)
6. Tare weight 30t
7. Gross Laden Weight (GLW) 102t
8. Length of bottom doors 3724mm
9. Length of top doors 18.2m
10. Material 3CR12 stainless steel for main structure with under-frame in mild steel and aluminium roof doors / S355 at headstock and bolster areas
11. Door operation – fully automatic via lineside magnets (non-contact, zero power)
12. Product flow control – patented product control moveable surfaces
13. Unique discharge door design (to eliminate product spillage)

About Drax

Drax Group plc is an electrical power generation business made up of three main business units: Drax Power, Drax Biomass and Haven Power. Its principal business unit, Drax Power, is the UK’s largest power station based in Selby, North Yorkshire, and provides 7-8% of the UK’s electricity. Drax Power is also Europe’s largest decarbonisation project and the UK’s largest renewable electricity generator, achieved through an ongoing conversion to burning sustainable biomass in place of coal. Drax Biomass is the Group’s upstream subsidiary based in the US, focussed on manufacturing wood pellets for renewable low-carbon power generation from sustainable biomass. At the other end of the supply chain, Drax’s retail arm, Haven Power, serves the electricity needs of a growing number of business customers. Drax Group also owns Billington Bioenergy, one of the leading distributors of wood pellets for sustainable heating in the UK. The business employs around 1400 people.
For more information visit www.drax.com/us

About WH Davis

WH Davis was originally formed in 1910, initially as a repairer and later a manufacturer of wooden-bodied mineral wagons. Following just two changes of ownership in a hundred years, it is now the last independent British freight wagon manufacturer, with workshops located just off the M1 motorway near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. In addition to freight wagons, WH Davis also designs and manufacturers all types of bespoke containers for industries as diverse as shipping, nuclear and off-shore oil.

Contacts:

Andrew Brown
Director of Communications
+44 (0) 1757 612 165
[email protected]

Luther Pendragon
+44 (0) 20 7618 9137
[email protected]

Drax Biomass is undertaking an evaluation of the area from which we source material (a “Supply Base Evaluation”). Part of this process is to invite comments from stakeholders, and a comment period is open from June 30th through July 29th. The Supply Base Evaluation forms part of the certification process for our pellet mills to the Sustainable Biomass Partnership standards. The SBP audit is expected to take place in August 2015.

Please inquire through the “contact us” portal if interested in participating.