Archives: Press Release

Drax is a winner in the RoSPA Awards 2015

23 June 2015

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Drax Power Limited (part of the Drax Group) is among the winners in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2015. The Winner of the Electricity Industry Sector award in the prestigious annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) was presented during a ceremony at ExCeL London on June 16.

As the UK’s family safety charity, RoSPA’s mission to save lives and reduce injuries covers all ages and stages of life. In support of this mission, the RoSPA Awards, which date back 59 years, recognise commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention at work. Through the scheme, which is open to businesses and organisations of all types and sizes from across the UK and overseas, judges consider entrants’ overarching occupational health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

David Rawlins, RoSPA’s Awards Manager, said: “The RoSPA Awards encourage improvement in occupational health and safety management. Organisations that gain recognition for their health and safety management systems such as Drax, contribute to raising standards overall and we congratulate them.”

Andy Koss, Chief Executive for Drax Power said:

“Receiving this award is recognition that our standards and safety practices are among the very best. Safety is our number one priority – nothing is more important. We can be proud of this achievement, but safety requires continuous vigilance and the commitment of everyone across the site.”

The majority of RoSPA’s awards are non-competitive, grading achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Organisations that maintain high standards in consecutive years can win gold medals, president’s awards and orders of distinction.

Competitive awards are presented in more than 20 industry sectors, and they also recognise excellence in specialist areas, such as the management of occupational road risk (MORR).

The sponsors of the RoSPA Awards 2015 are: headline sponsor – NEBOSH; The RoSPA International Sector Award – airsweb; The MORR Trophy – Allianz; The International Dilmun Environmental Award – GPIC; The Best New Entry Trophy – Safety and Health Expo; The Workforce Involvement in Safety and Health Trophy – Springfields Fuels; and, The MORR Technology Trophy – Tesco Dotcom.

This year, RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards ceremonies are being held in three locations: at ExCeL London on June 16 alongside the Safety and Health Expo 2015; in Birmingham on July 14 and 15  and in Glasgow on September 17, the day after the RoSPA Scotland Occupational Health and Safety Congress.

See www.rospa.com/awards/ for more information about the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards.

END

Notes

Drax’s principal activities are electricity production, electricity sales to business customers, and processing sustainable biomass for use in electricity production. With carbon abatement central to the business strategy, the Group is transforming itself into a predominantly biomass-fuelled power provider through burning sustainable biomass in place of coal and providing the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group owns and operates the largest power station in the UK, typically responsible for supplying some 7-8% of the UK’s electricity. Upstream the Group has a presence in the US focused on developing wood pellet plants for the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements. At the other end of the supply chain, the Group’s retail arm, Haven Power, serves the electricity needs of a growing number of business customers.

Haven power signs £520m deal with Thames Water

26 May 2015

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Energy will be generated from sustainable, affordable biomass. Haven Power, the specialist electricity supplier to UK businesses and part of Drax Group plc, has signed a deal with Thames Water to supply their electricity requirements in a deal worth more than £500m over five years. There is an option for two further five-year renewals which could increase the overall value of the contract to more than £1.5bn over 15 years.

Haven Power is the UK’s largest independent electricity supplier to businesses and sources its power from the Drax power plant in Selby, Yorkshire, which, as a result of its world leading biomass transformation, is now the UK’s single largest supplier of renewable energy. The deal will enable Thames Water, which already sources about 20% of its electricity through self-generated renewables such as solar, wind, hydro and biogas, to meet all of its electricity needs from renewables.

Drax Group Chief Executive, Dorothy Thompson, said:

“I’m delighted that Drax and Haven will play such an important part in helping to deliver Thames ‘renewable objectives.  As the UK looks to decarbonise in an affordable and pragmatic way, it is pioneering companies like Thames that are leading the way.”

Thames Water energy manager Angus Berry said:

“Our energy and carbon strategy centres around reducing costs for customers and minimising our impact on the environment. This deal with Haven puts downward pressure on bills and means we will now be using 100% renewable electricity. We look forward to growing our relationship with Haven to exploit further opportunities to minimise energy costs and emissions, as well as continuing to work towards our ambitious target of self-generating 30% of our own electricity by 2020.”

Drax is undergoing a major transformation programme to convert its 4GW power station – which supplies around 8% of the UK’s power – from coal to sustainable biomass. Two out of six units have now been converted and plans are advanced to modify a third unit to high-biomass later this year. The estimated 12 million tonnes of carbon saved once three units are fully converted is equivalent to taking 10% of the UK’s total vehicle fleet off the roads and makes Drax the single largest decarbonisation project currently underway in Europe.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Thames Water

 Thames Water, which serves London and the Thames Valley, is Britain’s biggest water and sewerage company.

Top-quality drinking water: We supply more than a tonne a week of water on average to each of our 9m drinking water customers. That’s 2,600m litres a day.

Recycling water back to the environment: We also recycle safely back to the environment 15m people’s wastewater. That’s 4,200m litres of sewage a day – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our region: Our service area stretches from eastern fringes of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire in the west, through to the western edges of Essex and Kent in the east.

For more information please visit https://www.thameswater.co.uk/

About Drax Group plc

Drax’s principal activities are electricity production, electricity sales to business customers, and processing sustainable biomass for use in electricity production. With carbon abatement central to the business strategy, the Group is transforming itself into a predominantly biomass-fuelled power provider through burning sustainable biomass in place of coal and providing the UK with cost effective, low carbon, and reliable renewable power.

The Group owns and operates the largest power station in the UK, typically responsible for supplying some 7-8% of the UK’s electricity. Upstream the Group has a presence in the US focused on developing wood pellet plants for the self-supply of some of its sustainable biomass requirements. At the other end of the supply chain, the Group’s retail arm, Haven Power, serves the electricity needs of a growing number of business customers.

For more information please contact:

 Stuart White, Thames Water

+44 (0) 203 577 4364. Or [email protected]

Andrew Brown, Drax

+44 (0) 7721513777 or [email protected]

Family fun at Easter Eggstravaganza

7 April 2015

Uncategorized

Record numbers turned up to support the fifth annual Easter Eggstravaganza at Drax Nature Reserve and Skylark Centre on Easter Sunday.

Over 1,200 children and parents joined the giant woodland egg hunt – with help from a life-sized Easter Bunny and Rooster – and enjoyed a range of fun-filled activities while raising money for Selby Hands of Hope.

The event, organised by Drax, included an arts and crafts workshop with flower-making and face painting. Rare breed sheep and goats and an animal petting area also provided education and entertainment for all.

Drax community campaign coordinator Ann Gray was there to join in the fun.

She said: “It’s great to see the Drax Easter Eggstravaganza becoming such a well-supported annual event on the community calendar. Everyone was having a brilliant time and together we raised over £1,600 for local charity Selby Hands of Hope which will go to support a variety of projects in the area.”

Download press release PDF:

Family fun at Easter Eggstravaganza

For more information, please contact:

Ann Gray, Drax

01757 612933

Richard Harrison/Sarah Harrison, Imagen PR

01943 468778

DCO Examination Phase Closed

2 April 2015

Press releases

The DCO Examination Phase for Watt Power’s Progress Power Project, near Eye concluded in January 2015, and is currently under consideration by the Planning Inspectorate.

In accordance with the statutory DCO timetable, a decision as to whether or not to grant Development Consent Orders to the project is expected from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in mid-July 2015.

Assuming the DCO is granted to the project, it is Watt Power’s intention to enter the Progress Power Project in the UK’s Capacity Market Auction.  Subject to the outcome of the Auction and the project’s financing, Watt Power would expect the plants to commence construction within 12 months of the auction, with commercial operation approximately 18 months later.

Submission of DCO Application Deferred

30 March 2015

Press releases

The project is in a position to submit an application for a Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate and MPL will continue to monitor market conditions to determine the appropriate time for submission.

Millbrook Power shares final plans with local councils

9 February 2015

Press releases

Millbrook Power (MPL) has made one significant change to the project since it last met the local authorities in November: MPL has chosen to underground the electrical cable connection for its power project, thereby avoiding the need to construct new overhead lines and new transmission towers. The decision to go underground (the gas pipeline connection will also be underground) will significantly reduce the visual impact of the project and has been taken after careful consideration of the views held by local councillors and local people, and MPL’s completion of its technical and environmental studies that have been carried out over the past 12 months.

Nick Johnson, MPL’s Project Manager said: “The local councillors welcomed our decision to go underground with the electrical connection; this follows our decision, last year, to reduce the height of the power station stacks after considering the results of technical studies. The councillors also acknowledged the measures that we will take to minimise other impacts of the power project. Our project is situated on land allocated for development but we have always been mindful of the views of local people, and fully appreciate the local environment and the heritage of the area.”

Jason Longhurst, Director of Regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council said: “It has been very useful to have been engaged early in this important development and we’re pleased that Millbrook Power has provided changes to reduce the visual impact of the development.”

Millbrook Power intends to submit its application to the Planning Inspectorate before the end of March and there should then follow a six month period of examination during which time the local councils and other interested parties can express their views.

Subject to the outcome of the Planning Inspectorate’s examination process and the Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change granting a Development Consent Order, the Millbrook Power project could enter commercial operation in 2019/2020.

Notes to editors:

  1. The underground electrical connection will export the electricity that is generated by the power plant via a new sub-station into the National Grid. The underground gas pipeline will deliver natural gas, the power station’s only fuel source, from the UK national gas transmission system to the power generation plant.
  2. The £200m MPL project was first announced in May 2014. Since then, MPL’s technical and environmental studies have considered a range of issues such as noise, air quality, visual impact, ecology and transport. In addition, MPL has publicised its plans via various channels, consulted the local councils in the area and a range of other interested parties and held two series of public exhibitions.
  3. Subject to planning and financing, construction of the project could start in 2017/2018 for a 2-3 year period. The plant (up to 299MW capacity) will only run at times when electricity demand is at its highest, mainly during the winter months, and on those occasions when there is intermittent output from renewable sources of energy, primarily wind and solar.
  4. The project would be a substantial and long-term investment in the area, seeing the creation of around 150 construction jobs, up to 15 permanent skilled jobs and potential business opportunities for local companies. MPL is consulting Central Bedfordshire and Bedford Borough Councils on ways to bring wider social and environmental benefits to the surrounding area.
    For further information, please visit https://www.drax.com/about-us/our-projects/millbrook-power/

Progress Power’s Response to Dr Dan Poulter MP

16 January 2015

Press releases

“We have met Dr Poulter on a number of occasions to discuss our proposed project, which is presently being considered by the Planning Inspectorate. We have explained to Dr Poulter and the Planning Inspectorate our reasons for choosing the airfield site for the location of the gas-fired power station, which in principle the local authorities support.

“We have also explained our reasons for the location of the substation, and outlined the work that we will undertake to minimise its visual impact, including the undergrounding of the necessary electrical connection. In addition, we have outlined our initiatives to bring wider benefit to the local area, whilst working with the local councils.

“If our project is approved and built, it will help deliver the Government’s energy and environment policies.”

Statutory consultation on the Abergelli Power Project has now closed

4 December 2014

Press releases

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you if you took the time to provide us with feedback. Your views are important to us.

As part of the statutory consultation process we engaged with the local community – distributing more than 13,000 leaflets to homes and businesses in the vicinity of the site in advance of a series of public exhibitions at Llangyfelach, Felindre, Clydach and Tircoed between 22 and 25 October 2014. Across the four days, more than 100 people visited the exhibitions. We have also liaised closely – and continue to do so – with the City & County of Swansea and relevant community councils.

In addition, we have been in contact with stakeholders such as Natural Resources Wales, Cadw and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board. We anticipate that these and other technical stakeholders will provide comments, following this formal consultation stage, which we will consider as we finalise our Development Consent Order application.

The feedback received during the public exhibitions was broadly positive. We are continuing to refine our proposals where concerns were raised, in particular to mitigate the potential visual impact of the Project where possible and to secure the preferred access option from the B4489 to the west of the Project site.

Comments on the Project, and its operation as a flexible, peaking power plant which would support security of energy supply in the future were also received from local people.

Following consideration of all responses returned by stakeholders and the local community, we are now focused on refining our design and submitting an application for a Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate in the first quarter of 2015. That application will be accompanied by an Environmental Statement, which will provide detailed information on a range of topics, including air quality, noise and vibration, landscape and visual impact and traffic, transport and access.

The application will also include a Consultation Report. This document will describe how we have had regard to feedback received and indicate how this has been taken into account in the development and design of the project.

Once the application has been submitted to the Planning Inspectorate and accepted for examination, the application documents, including the Environmental Statement and the Consultation Report, will be available to view and download from this website, from the Abergelli Power Limited project pages of the Planning Inspectorate’s website and to view at local libraries and council offices. Hard copies of the application documents will also be available to buy.

Once the application is accepted for examination, it will proceed through the examination phase where the local community and other relevant stakeholders can make representations to the Planning Inspectorate. Assuming that the application is submitted in early 2015, we would expect a decision from the Secretary of State for Energy & Climate Change in the middle of 2016 and, subject to further permitting and financing, the Project could enter commercial operation in 2019/2020.

If you have any queries relating to the project, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling 0131 550 3395, sending an email to [email protected] or by writing FREEPOST RTEY-JYYB-ERSR, Abergelli Power Ltd, 49 York Place, Edinburgh EH1 3JD.

Statutory Consultation Period Ends

26 November 2014

Press releases

This period was designed to attain feedback from the public and relevant organisations about the proposal. The Millbrook Power team received a range of comments from local residents, local businesses, local councillors as well as the relevant planning authorities and other local and national organisations that have an interest in the Project.

During this consultation period, four public exhibitions were held in Stewartby, Lidlington, Ampthill and Marston Moretaine. These exhibitions, attended by around 175 people, provided the public with information on the Project and the developments of the proposal, as well as the opportunity to ask questions to the Millbrook Power team who were present at the events. Significantly, these exhibitions provided opportunity for local residents to provide us with feedback.

The exhibitions were advertised locally and a leaflet about the Project, which included a feedback form, was delivered to households and businesses in the area surrounding the site at Rookery South Pit.

Chris McKerrow and Nick Johnson, the Director and Manager of the Millbrook Power Project respectively, also gave a talk to sixth form students at Kimberley College on the Future of Energy in the UK. Amongst other things the talk explained the need for projects such as this, and described the Project and the work that we are doing to bring it forward.

Now that the period of consultation has ended, the Millbrook team are collating the information received and finalising certain aspects of the design accordingly, taking account of any concerns raised by the public during consultation. Documentation for our submission to the Planning Inspectorate is also being prepared, such as the Environmental Statement and our Consultation Report, which will be available to the public once the submission has been made. The submission is expected in the first quarter of next year.

In the meantime, Millbrook Power will continue to liaise with Central Bedfordshire Council and Bedford Borough Council, as well as the local parish councils in the area to ensure they are fully informed of the Project’s evolution and status.