By Mark Gibbens, Head of Logistics, Drax
The rail industry is often described as a family. For me, this stems from the industry’s unique sense of togetherness and a collaborative, can-do ethos, which feels rare in this day and age.
Drax is proud to be part of that extended family and over the last 12 months we’ve done important work with our freight partners to reduce our carbon footprint and support the community.
Working with DB Cargo UK we have switched trains coming in and out of Drax Power Station, on Immingham services, to environmentally friendly hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO). DB Cargo UK currently transports around 4 million tonnes of sustainable biomass pellets to Drax Power Station each year, operating around 60 trains a week – approximately 3,000 trains a year – to the site.
This year we made the commitment to expand our usage of HVO into all trains coming in and out of Drax, partnering with GB Railfreight. It is estimated that switching from traditional red diesel to HVO will reduce rail freight carbon emissions by up to 90%, saving 20,000 tonnes of carbon each year, equivalent to around 50 million miles worth of car journeys.
Since 2015, Drax IIA-D wagons manufactured by WH Davis in Mansfield, and maintained by Davis Wagon Services in Ferrybridge, have travelled 150 million miles – that’s further than the distance from the Sun to Mars! – showing how crucial switching to HVO is to decarbonising our supply chain.
The switch to HVO is part of a new business-wide approach to sustainability. The centrepiece is a new sustainability framework underpinning our operations. Central to this is a new ambition to reach net zero across our value chain by the end of 2040, including steps aimed at decarbonising our supply chain. We’ve already made significant progress here, using HVO and other measures to cut our total group supply chain emissions by 27% since 2020. Eliminating the remainder will not be easy.
The biggest challenges are shipping and pelleting, and we’re making progress on both, including investing in a wind-assisted shipping trial and testing renewable power sources for our pellet plants.
We’ll be making new investments in satellite technology, to deliver even more accurate measurements of the carbon stored in our sourcing areas, along with automating our data gathering to improve sourcing governance and traceability, so that our raw materials can be traced digitally.
We’re also seeking to make tangible improvements to the lives and livelihoods of the communities we operate in. This goes beyond providing jobs at Drax sites – it requires social investment, collaboration, education and long-term support.
In 2024, we donated £3.6 million to non-profit organisations and community improvement projects, and our community support programmes continue to grow. Last year, we celebrated our 50th anniversary and working with our freight partners DB Cargo UK and GB Railfreight, we named two locomotives during a ceremonial rail event which raised £30,000 for children’s hospice charity Martin House.
For 2025, I look forward to another year of moving forwards, where our rail and shipping operations continue to help Drax play a critical role in protecting UK energy security and providing renewable power for millions of homes and businesses across the country.
