Archives: Press Release

Unique technology means charging EVs for Drax’s business customers is easier

The two new payment products that Drax now offers will help businesses, whose employees drive company EVs which they charge either at home or on the road, by automatically directing the expenses to the company, thus reducing admin time and ensuring payment accuracy.

When charging at home, Mina Homecharge® accurately pays driver’s charging costs direct to their energy supplier. For business drivers charging on the road, Mina Chargepass® allows them to charge at no cost to the individual and combine the costs in a single monthly invoice sent directly to their employer.

Business drivers will no longer have to pay to charge or claim any expenses, as all costs will be charged back to their employer each month. This helps businesses maximise efficiency as it cuts out the need to manage multiple expense claims, significantly reducing admin time for both the business and driver.

Adam Hall, Director of Energy Services, Drax, said: “We’re always looking for ways to improve our business customers’ experience and offer them access to the services they’ve told us they need. Mina Homecharge and Chargepass are excellent solutions that allow organisations to give their EV drivers flexibility when it comes to where they charge their vehicles.”

For fleet drivers who need to charge on the road, Chargepass offers the fastest dedicated charging network to businesses, with 44% of chargers being either rapid or ultra-rapid. The network currently offers access to over 11,000 public EV chargers across the UK, with plans to grow considerably over the coming months.

Ashley Tate, CEO and Co-Founder, Mina said: “Working with credible partners such as Drax is really important to ensure we’re able to reach more      businesses. Drax offers businesses an extensive range of services for the fleet and workplace charging markets and we’re delighted to be part of that product mix.

“One of the biggest challenges businesses face      is how to pay for their drivers’ EV charging costs fairly and that can be a very complex area to navigate. By offering Mina, Drax can simplify the process for their business customers enabling companies to transition to electric vehicles with ease.”

ENDS

Photo caption: Drax EV charge card

Media contacts: 

Megan Hopgood
Communications Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07936 350 175

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

Customers 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering a range of energy-related services including energy optimisation, as well as electric vehicle strategy and management.

Drax’s Electric Vehicles team works with organisations to electrify their fleets and business premises. They can help businesses whether they’re looking to transition their delivery and operational fleets, implement destination charging to generate revenue, or workplace charging – offering employees the convenience of charging at work.

They also offer their customers a range of payment options, including mobile payment using the Charge Assist app and Payment free card via Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Cards. My Electric Vehicles is their innovative user-friendly EV fleet management system that gives customers insight into their EV fleet, charge stations and energy consumption in one platform.

About Mina

Mina is a multi-award winning payment solution for EV charging and is the UK’s only platform which allows fleet and business electric vehicles to be charged at home and on the road, resulting in a single monthly invoice for the business.

Powering some of the largest fleets in the UK, Mina’s unique solution means drivers don’t ever have to pay upfront for their EV charging costs and businesses don’t have to rely on the inaccuracies in the Government’s Advisory Electricity Rate as a way of reimbursing them.

Instead, with Mina Homecharge®, EV charging costs consumed at home are paid accurately and direct to each employee’s energy supplier, and when charging on the road with a Mina Chargepass®, employees have access to the UK’s fastest EV charging network dedicated to businesses – including all charge points within the Allstar and InstaVolt networks.

Businesses are able to see key insights including carbon intensity and emissions, cost per kWh, location and duration of each charge across their fleet in our easy-to-use Fleet Portal.

This makes paying for EV charging transparent, accurate and simple for employers and employees.

Powering Britain in 2022: renewables reach record levels, but fossil fuels double power prices

  • New analysis shows Britain’s power grid had a record-breaking green year, but the spiralling cost of fossil fuels led power prices to almost double.
  • Renewable power generated more than two-fifths (40%) of the country’s electricity for the first time – helping to cut carbon emissions by 2.7 million tonnes.
  • Britain exported more power to Europe than ever before, making it a net exporter of electricity for the first time in over a decade.

Academics from Imperial College London for Drax Electric Insights, commissioned via Imperial Consultants, analysed the data which highlights the turbulence that Britain’s electricity system has endured amid an unprecedented year for the energy industry.

Renewable power sources – wind, solar, biomass and hydro – generated 40% of the country’s electricity in 2022 – up from 35% in 2021, helping to cut CO2 emissions from the power sector by 2.7 million tonnes compared to the previous year. Overall generation from renewables has more than quadrupled over the last decade.

At one stage during May, renewables provided 72.8% of power to the grid whilst wind farms generated a landmark 20GW of electricity for the first time – the maximum output from wind is now up by a third compared to four years ago.

Despite the record supply of cheap renewable electricity, the unprecedented rise in the cost of gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent power prices to a new all-time high. The fossil fuel supplied 42% of the country’s power this year, its largest share of the fuel mix since 2016. Britain is on course to have annual average wholesale price above £200 per MWh for the first time ever in 2022 – up from £113 the year before. This is nearly six times higher than the cost of electricity in 2020 (£34 per MWh).

The price (£/MWh) of fossil fuels over the last three years, relative to their averages from 2010-19

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London, and lead author of the quarterly Drax Electric Insights report series, said:

“This has been a year like no other for the energy industry. The public are feeling the pain of high gas prices on their energy bills even though renewables are providing the grid with more cheap, green electricity than ever before.

“The lesson from 2022 is that we need to break our addiction to fossil fuels once and for all if we want lower cost and more secure energy supplies. If we had not invested in wind, solar and biomass over the last decade our energy bills would have been even higher, as would the risk of blackouts over winter.

“The energy crisis cannot be solved by increasing our reliance on gas imported from abroad. We need to turbocharge our investment in clean energy technologies to become Europe’s renewable electricity powerhouse, which will cut fuel bills at home and bring money into the economy by exporting power to our neighbouring countries.”

For the first time in more than a decade, Britain is a net exporter of electricity to its European neighbours. Electricity exports quadrupled from last year to 17.2 TWh of electricity – generating around £3.1bn for the UK economy. The country exported a net total of 1.9TWh, representing a dramatic swing in power trading from the previous year when Britain instead imported a net total of 22.9TWh.

Share of British electricity that was imported and exported each quarter

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, said:

“Drax plays a critical role in supporting the UK energy system, generating more renewable power by output than any other company.

“We can accelerate and strengthen Britain’s long-term energy security by ending our reliance on expensive, imported fossil fuels and instead increase investment in homegrown renewables, and innovative green technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and pumped storage hydro.”

Drax is the UK’s biggest renewable power producer by output, generating enough renewable electricity from biomass and hydro for around 5 million homes – producing as much as 20% of the country’s renewable electricity during times of peak demand in 2022.

Drax plans to invest billions of pounds expanding its pumped hydro storage capacity at its Cruachan power station in Scotland and deploying BECCS at its power station in North Yorkshire, to permanently remove 8million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year by 2030, whilst generating the reliable, renewable power the country needs.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Aidan Kerr
Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07849090368

Ali Lewis
Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712 670 888

 Editor’s Notes

  • 2022 figures are from 1 January to 17 December, with projections used to account for the rest of the year.
  • The estimation of the value of electricity exports for the UK economy (2022: £3.1bn) is based on the total volume of gross exports if they were sold at day-ahead prices.

Some key records from the data:

  • Renewable power generated 40% of Britain’s electricity needs (2021: 35%).
  • New all-time high annual share of power generated from wind (2022: 28%, 2021: 23%).
  • The power sector produced 50.1 million tonnes of CO2, a fall of 2.7 million tonnes from last year (2021: 52.8 million tonnes of CO2).
  • Lowest ever amount of power generated from coal (2022: 4.3TWh, 2021: 5.0TWh).
  • Output from gas generation rose to 113.8TWh (2021:107.2TWh).
  • Overall power demand continued its steady decline over the last decade to 269.9TWh (2021: 276.5TWh).
  • A dramatic 20.9TWh swing in power trading occurred on the Great Britain – France interconnectors with GB net exporting 7.2TWh compared to net imports of 13.7TWh in 2021.

 About Electric Insights

  • Electric Insights is commissioned by Drax and delivered by a team of independent academics from Imperial College London, facilitated by the college’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants. The quarterly report analyses raw data made publicly available by National Grid and Elexon, which run the electricity and balancing market respectively, and Sheffield Solar.
  • Electric Insights Quarterly focuses on supply and demand, prices, emissions, the performance of the various generation technologies and the network that connects them.
  • The quarterly reports from the last four and a half years can be access at the new website electricinsights.co.ukalongside the interactive electricinsights.co.uk which provides data from 2009 until the present.
  • You can embed Electric Insight’s live dashboard on your website or blog to keep track of what’s happening in the power grid through a new widget.

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 4 million tonnes 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 19 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

 

Families enjoy festive fun at Drax’s Skylark Centre

Children got the chance to visit the magical Christmas grotto, meet Santa Claus and each receive a small gift at the three-day event run by the Drax visitor centre team.

Millie, 3 and Emilia, 5

The family fun day out featured activities to suit children of all ages including festive crafts, an I-Spy Christmas walk, a reindeer balloon race and a Snow-it-All quiz.

Esmay, 9

Jane Breach, Community Engagement & Visitor Centre Team Leader at Drax, said: “We’ve not been able to run our Christmas event at the Skylark Centre for the last two years due to Covid restrictions, so it was fantastic to see families and visitors of all ages enjoying the festive activities with us this year. There will be plenty more great events coming up next year and we look forward to seeing everyone again then. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” 

Children taking part in the reindeer balloon racing

For information on future events at Drax and the Skylark nature reserve, visit Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DraxGroup/ or the Drax website at https://www.drax.com/visit-us/#events.

ENDS

Main photo caption:

  1. Warren, 3 meeting Santa with mum Emma

Media contacts:

Megan Hopgood
Communications Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07936 350 175

Notes to editors:

Developed by Drax in the early 1970s, the Skylark Centre and Nature Reserve is located at Barlow, near Selby, and forms part of the power station site.

The 350-acre nature reserve is home to a variety of wildlife and is also a valuable educational resource for schools, colleges and local nature groups.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Drax Power Station welcomed more than 12,000 visitors each year. The power station reopened earlier this year to welcome schools and colleges for educational tours.

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 4 million tonnes 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 19 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

Maintenance regime for Drax’s coal units

Engineers inspect generator in Drax Power Station turbine hall, 2019

A Drax spokesperson said:

“As part of the maintenance regime for Drax’s coal units, the power station will be running one of its units on Friday for a short period. Whilst this will generate power and has been agreed with National Grid ESO, this generation is not an instruction under the terms of the winter contingency contract we have agreed with them.

“The unit is not operating commercially and will not receive direct compensation for this maintenance generation.

“We are proud to be able to provide the extra capacity from our coal units this winter, should it be required, to bolster UK energy security and help keep the lights on for millions of homes and businesses.”

ENDS

Background

  • At the request of the UK Government, Drax agreed to delay the planned closure of its two coal-fired units and help bolster the UK’s energy security this winter, following Russia’s war in Ukraine.
  • Under the winter contingency agreement with National Grid ESO, Drax is allowed to seek permission to run parts of the plant for operational reasons for limited time periods.
  • We have agreed today’s operational run of the unit with National Grid ESO.
  • Drax remains committed to a coal-free future for the plant as the UK’s long-term energy security depends on investing in innovative green technologies like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), which Drax plans to deploy in the 2020s, to permanently remove 8 million tonnes of CO2 each year from the atmosphere by 2030, whilst providing reliable, renewable power to the system.

Europe is cutting gas usage faster than UK

  • European countries such as Germany are leading the way in slashing their demand for gas, according to Drax Electric Insights.
  • The UK is showing no signs of changing its gas consumption levels, with an exceptionally mild autumn leading to its modest reductions year-on-year.
  • Households could save up to £200 by turning down their thermostat by just 1°C, and save the government £3bn in funding the Energy Price Guarantee.

The independent analysis by academics from Imperial College London for Drax Electric Insights, commissioned via Imperial Consultants, shows that the UK’s gas reduction year-on-year was outpaced by Germany, France, Italy, and Spain – with demand for gas actually rising in Britain in September compared to previous years.

Change in natural gas consumption versus the previous three years in UK and comparable European countries. Data covers all sectors excluding power generation and are not adjusted for weather differences.

What reduction there was in gas use in the UK was attributable to unseasonably warm weather rather than people adjusting their behaviour. The analysis for Drax Electric Insights showed that from September, through to end of November, Britain’s gas demand was just 0.3% lower than would have been expected pre-energy crisis, when accounting for weather anomalies.

Daily natural gas consumption in UK versus expectations. The blue line shows the seasonal average for all end users except power generation over 10 years to 2020. The yellow line adjusts for weather, showing what demand would be with pre-crisis behaviour. The black line shows actual consumption.

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London, and lead author of the quarterly Drax Electric Insights report, said:

“The UK is an outlier on the world stage, showing no signs of reducing its appetite for gas during a time of dramatically higher prices.

“If temperatures continue to drop during the festive season, managing the energy crisis will be both more difficult and expensive unless people and businesses break their addiction to gas. Turning the thermostat down by just 1°C would save households up to £200 a year on their energy bills and save the UK from importing 50TWh of natural gas over the winter – cutting the cost of the government’s Energy Price Guarantee by £3bn.”

On the continent, national governments have introduced demand reduction measures alongside information campaigns to inspire the public and businesses to act. In Germany, public buildings have turned down their thermostats to 19°C and outside illuminated advertising must be turned off between 10pm until 6am.

The UK Government has now launched a public information campaign on how people can claim financial support this winter alongside more technical advice on how to reduce energy use while still keeping warm, such as reconfiguring boiler settings. This followed the Chancellor announcing a further £6bn to insulate homes and upgrade boilers.

Penny Small, Drax’s Group Generation Director, said:

“As a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine the UK’s energy system is under considerable strain this winter and the combination of rising inflation and gas prices has put most household budgets under pressure.

“Britain’s long-term energy security will be strengthened by ending our reliance on expensive imported fossil fuels such as gas and instead increasing investment in homegrown renewables, and innovative green technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and pumped storage hydro.”

Drax is the UK’s biggest renewable power producer by output, generating enough renewable electricity from biomass and hydro for around 5 million homes.

It plans to invest billions of pounds expanding its pumped hydro storage capacity at its Cruachan power station in Scotland and also deploying BECCS at its power station in North Yorkshire, to permanently remove 8million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year by 2030.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Aidan Kerr
Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07849090368

Ali Lewis
Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712 670 888

Editor’s Notes

A copy of the Drax Electric Insights Q3 2022 report is available by clicking here.

  • Records broken during Q3 2022 include power exports reaching an all-time instantaneous percentage high of total generation – 20.9%.
  • Warm weather was central to gas demand reduction in the UK, with October 3°C warmer the average with a record-breaking 30°C recorded on a single-day in Gravesend.
  • In November, during the first three weeks just one day in the month was colder than average.
  • Britain’s gas demand is heavily linked to weather, with an additional 160 GWh for every degree that it falls below 15°C.
  • Average household savings by reducing thermostats by 1°C during the winter period (October to March) would save consumers £1-£1.50 per day.
  • As well as saving the country money, reducing gas demand by 50 TWh would cut carbon emissions by 10.2 million tonnes – or 3% of the UK’s total CO2

About Electric Insights

  • Electric Insights is commissioned by Drax and delivered by a team of independent academics from Imperial College London, facilitated by the college’s consultancy company – Imperial Consultants. The quarterly report analyses raw data made publicly available by National Grid and Elexon, which run the electricity and balancing market respectively, and Sheffield Solar.
  • Electric Insights Quarterly focuses on supply and demand, prices, emissions, the performance of the various generation technologies and the network that connects them.
  • The quarterly reports from the last four and a half years can be access at the new website electricinsights.co.uk alongside the interactive electricinsights.co.uk which provides data from 2009 until the present.
  • You can embed Electric Insight’s live dashboard on your website or blog to keep track of what’s happening in the power grid through a new widget.

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 4 million tonnes 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 18 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

Drax supports key workers at sea during the Christmas period

Drax has worked with its partners Associated British Ports, DAN Shipping and Davis Wagon Services to jointly donate £3,500 to the Mission to Seafarers, a charity which supports people working at sea.

Drax volunteers Emma Smith, Colin Bansor and Taslima Ayre on board one of the ships

Volunteers from the charity, as well as from Drax and DAN shipping, packed bags with the donated items and supplies and then distributed to crews on the ships at Immingham port, including those carrying fuel for Drax’s supply chain.

Mark Gibbens, Drax Head of Logistics, said: “We are proud to support the important work that the Mission to Seafarers does to bring support and comfort to the key workers in our supply chain and others during Christmas. I’d also like to thank our partners at ABP, DAN shipping and Davis Wagon Services for their contributions.

“This is a way to thank the people employed throughout our supply chain whose invaluable work helps us to maintain reliable, renewable electricity supplies for millions of homes and businesses. I hope these donations will help the men and women working out at sea enjoy a more festive Christmas even whilst away from loved ones.”

Revd. Tim Linkens, Mission to Seafarers chaplain, said: “As we approach Christmas, seafarers are still out on their ships keeping global trade moving. When you see the news reports of the supply chain challenges that may cause issues getting the presents you want, you will rarely be told about the seafarers themselves. The Mission to Seafarers supports those who are away from home, missing their families and loved ones and it’s thanks to donations and volunteering efforts such as these that we are able to continue this vital work.”

Steve Pullen, Managing Director at DAN Shipping, said: “When Drax approached us with this volunteering opportunity, we were more than happy to contribute and support what is a truly worthwhile initiative. It was great to see the amount of donations and all the volunteers come together at the port to wrap the presents and then to meet some of the key workers. I hope this gesture shows them how much we appreciate the important work they do.”

Drax is committed to supporting the communities local to its operations through various initiatives including fundraising for local charities and supporting education and skills.

ENDS

Photo caption: Volunteers from Drax and DAN Shipping helped Mission to Seafarers pack the supplies to be distributed

Media contacts:

Megan Hopgood
Communications Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07936 350 175

Notes to editors:

  • Drax’s Charity Committee has a dedicated fund for supporting good causes local to its operations, which include Drax Power Station near Selby and its hydro power plants in Scotland.
  • Charities and community organisations local to Drax’s operations which support STEM and education outreach, skills and employability, or which work to improve local communities, can apply for small grants from Drax.
  • To request an application form, email [email protected] or fill out an enquiry form on the Drax website.

About Mission to Seafarers

There are 1.5 million seafarers across the world who are responsible for transporting over 90% of the world’s goods and fuels, making them essential key workers who often go unrecognised by the general population.

People working on ships can often spend months at a time far away from their loved ones, with limited internet access which can lead to loneliness and mental health issues.

To compensate for the lack of facilities available, the Mission to Seafarers Centres, spread across 50 countries, aim to provide Seafarers with:

  • Access to WiFi Internet and SIM cards
  • A comfortable place to rest and relax
  • The chance to get food and toiletries
  • Transport to shops and local amenities
  • Emotional and spiritual support

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 4 million tonnes 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 18 operational pellet plants and developments with nameplate production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

Drax breaks ground on exploratory works for historic energy storage expansion project

Exploratory ground investigations are now underway at its existing Cruachan facility in Scotland, where the company plans to build a new 600 MW underground plant. A 70m deep borehole is being drilled to recover rock core which will be analysed in a lab to determine structural and geological stability for elements of the new plant.

The preliminary works are being carried out whilst the project awaits consent from the Scottish Government alongside an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK Government.

A worker inspects rock core samples scaled

Increasing the UK’s pumped storage hydro capacity is critical to enabling more renewable power to come online, strengthening the country’s energy security whilst helping Britain decarbonise.

Ian Kinnaird, Drax’s Scottish Assets Director, said:

“This is a significant moment in the expansion of Cruachan. The project team has been working extremely hard to move the development forward, and the start of ground investigation works is the next phase in delivering this vitally important new plant.

“The scale of the proposed development matches Drax’s ambitions when it comes to tackling the climate crisis. More than 2 million tonnes of rock will be excavated to create a new cavern inside the mountain which will be big enough to house Big Ben on its side.

“Expanding Cruachan will strengthen the UK’s energy security by enabling more homegrown renewable electricity to come online to power homes and businesses across the country. This major infrastructure project will support hundreds of jobs and provide a real boost to the Scottish economy.”

The new underground 600 MW plant would be one of the largest infrastructure projects carried out in Scotland for many years, with Drax expecting the plant to come online in 2030 following a six-year period of construction and an investment of around £500m.

The works are a major step forward for the development

Pumped storage hydro plants act like giant water batteries, using reversible turbines to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir which stores excess power from wind farms and other low carbon technologies when supply outstrips demand. These same turbines are then reversed to bring the stored water back through the plant to generate power when it is needed.

In order to deploy this critical technology, Drax must secure consent from the Scottish Government alongside an updated policy and market support mechanism from the UK Government.

The existing lack of an appropriate framework for new long-duration, large-scale electricity storage technologies means that private investment cannot currently be secured in new pumped storage hydro projects, with no new plants built anywhere in the UK since 1984 despite their critical role in decarbonisation.

ENDS

Picture captions:

Top image caption: A 70m-deep bore hole is being drilled at the site

Media contacts:

Aidan Kerr
Media Manager
E: [email protected] 
T: 07849090368

Ali Lewis
Head of Media & PR
E: [email protected]
T: 07712 670 888

Editor’s Notes

  • Drax applied for development consent from the Scottish Government under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 in May 2022.
  • We expect a response to the application to be received in Q2 2023.
  • BEIS has pledged to introduce a new policy and market support framework to enable private investment in large-scale, long-duration storage projects by 2024.
  • No investment decision has yet been taken by Drax and development remains subject to both development consent and an appropriate regulatory framework.

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 4 million tonnes 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 production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

Drax supports UK energy security by helping businesses use less power

Close up of electricity pylon tower

National Grid ESO is running its Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) to financially incentivise businesses to reduce electricity consumption when national demand is at its highest, typically on weekdays between 4pm and 7pm. Between November 2022 and March 2023, the ESO has announced that it will operate a maximum of 12 tests for participants.

Drax Energy Solutions has worked with its customers, including vehicle manufacturer Ford, to reduce their power demand by 30MW during these test periods  – the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power 60,000 UK homes. This additional flexibility helps National Grid ESO balance supply and demand amid the ongoing energy crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Drax’s customers are paid £3,000 per MWh to reduce their power consumption and with a reduction in demand of 30MW observed during the  test on 22 November , a revenue of £90,000 was achieved for participating customers.

Adam Hall, Drax’s Director of Energy Services said:

“This scheme provides a real opportunity for our supply customers with flexibility in their operations to play their part in strengthening Britain’s energy security this winter whilst cutting their electricity bills. We’re delighted that Drax Energy Solutions has become one of the very first approved providers, enabling our customers to benefit directly from participating in the scheme.

“We’ve been speaking with customers about the benefits the scheme offers their organisations and these conversations have been really positive. We’re delighted that customers including Ford have agreed to be part of the scheme, adjusting their manufacturing processes and offering more flexibility and stability to the grid whilst cutting their energy usage and contributing to their own net zero goals.”

The scheme was recently approved by Ofgem, and Drax is one of the first approved providers for DFS this winter.

ENDS

Media contacts:

Aidan Kerr
Media Manager
E: [email protected]
T: 07849090368

Notes to editors:

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

Customers

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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

Demand Flexibility Scheme

The Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) has been developed to allow the ESO to access additional flexibility when the national demand is at its highest – during peak winter days – which is not currently accessible to the ESO in real time. This new innovative service will allow consumers, as well as some industrial and commercial users (through suppliers/aggregators), to be incentivised for voluntarily flexing the time when they use their electricity.

As part of a range of tools designed to help manage the electricity system this winter, National Grid are collaborating with energy suppliers/aggregators to allow participating consumers and businesses to reduce their bills this winter.

How the service works

  • DFS began on 1 November 2022.
  • ESO will run a maximum of 12 tests for participants entering from 1 November 2022, where participants will receive dispatch instructions with the opportunity to receive a Guaranteed Acceptance Price for tests.
  • Four tests will take place in the first full month parties are signed up, followed by two tests in each subsequent month.
  • During a DFS tender, once bids from participants are accepted, participants will contact end consumers/asset owners and request that they deliver demand turn down for the specified bid window.
  • Parties can continue to sign up to the service after 1 November 2022.
  • Response is required for a minimum of 30 minutes.
  • Tender submissions are Pay as Bid.
  • The service will run until March 2023.

For more information on the scheme visit https://www.nationalgrideso.com/industry-information/balancing-services/demand-flexibility

Glasgow apprentices win top prizes and Drax awards

Paul Firth and Ian Kinnaird

Paul Firth, age 21 from Motherwell, has won Craft Apprentice of the Year (Year 2) after being commended for the excellent quality of his work. Paul received outstanding feedback from his colleagues who said that he tackles any task that comes his way and always has a positive ‘can-do’ attitude.

Paul, who is now entering the third year of his apprenticeship, said: “It’s been a great night at the awards and I’m really proud to have won two years in a row. I’ve enjoyed working with the team at Daldowie and getting hands on skills, it’s a great place to do an apprenticeship. I’m looking forward to progressing and learning even more next year.”

Gregor Fraser and Ian Kinnaird

Gregor Fraser, age 23 from Lenzie, was awarded Craft Apprentice of the Year (Year 3) for being proactive and taking the lead on a number of projects.

Gregor said,

“I’m really happy about winning an award, it feels great to be recognised for my work this year. It’s also been good to meet people from other sites and get to know them.

“The best bit about doing an apprenticeship is how much you can learn from the engineers that work there. I’m looking forward to completing my apprenticeship and hopefully getting a permanent job on site.”

The 55 apprentices from across the group gathered at the Drax Sports and Social Club, near to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, for the celebration which also included a day of team building activities. This is the first time since before the Covid pandemic that the event has been able to be held in person.

Ian Kinnaird, Director of Drax’s Scottish Generation Assets, who co-hosted the event, said:

“Drax is committed to championing and supporting people in their early careers. Hiring and developing a talented workforce of the future is essential for a business like Drax.

“Apprentices all have unique talents and bring a new perspective, that we can learn from. It’s been fantastic to be able to hand out the awards to this year’s winners and celebrate their achievements in person after having held the awards virtually the last couple of years due to Covid. All the apprentices should be extremely proud of themselves, they have a bright future ahead of them.”

This year’s winners were:

  • Technical Apprentice of the Year (Year 1) and winner of the HETA Mechanical Apprentice of the Year and Award for Excellence – Patrick Harpham, age 20 from Selby
  • Technical Apprentice of the Year (Year 2) – Declan Farmer, age 19 from Gilberdyke near Brough
  • Technical Apprentice of the Year (Year 3) – James Taylor, age 20 from Thorne and Simran Ley, age 24 from Selby
  • Technical Apprentice of the Year (Year 4) and the Paul Chambers Outstanding Achievement Award – Sam Plumb, age 23 from Kirton in Lindsey, near Gainsborough
  • Craft Apprentice of the Year (Scotland, Year 2) – Paul Firth, age 21 from Motherwell near Glasgow
  • Craft Apprentice of the Year (Scotland, Year 3) – Gregor Fraser, age 23 from Lenzie near Glasgow
  • Business Apprentice of the Year – Luke Crossland, age 23 from Wrenthorpe near Wakefield
  • HETA Electrical Apprentice of the Year – Sam Easthill, age 23 from Cliffe near Selby

Drax’s long-running apprenticeship scheme is part of its commitment to developing new talent as well as upskilling the workforce across the region. Drax has 55 apprentices as well as 57 existing employees working towards apprenticeship qualifications at other career levels within the business.

The craft apprenticeship scheme gives new recruits the opportunity to gain skills and expertise by working alongside highly qualified engineers. It is a four-year programme, and specialises in three engineering disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical and Control & Instrumentation. In addition to engineering disciplines, Drax also offers apprenticeship qualifications in business support areas such as HR, cyber security and administration.

Earlier this year, Drax submitted an application for its exciting plans to more than double the generating capacity of its iconic ‘Hollow Mountain’ Cruachan Power Station in Argyll and Bute.

Under the plans, a second underground power station will be built adjacent to the existing one to enable Cruachan to play an even bigger role in supporting the expansion of renewable energy sources such as wind power and provide lifeline stability services to the national grid.

Around 900 jobs will be created and indirectly supported during the new power station’s construction, providing a huge boost to communities around Loch Awe and across Argyll, with the project supporting UK energy security and climate targets.

ENDS

Main photo caption: Gregor Fraser, Ian Kinnaird Director of Drax’s Scottish Generation Assets and Paul Firth

Media contacts:

Megan Hopgood
Communications Officer
E: [email protected]
T: 07936 350 175

Editor’s Notes

Drax has been running an apprenticeship scheme for almost two decades at its eponymous power station in North Yorkshire and also offers internships and graduate schemes as part of its dedication to improving skills and increasing opportunities for young people across the region. In 2020, Drax extended its apprenticeship scheme to its sites in Scotland, including Cruachan Hydroelectric Power Station in Argyll and Bute and Daldowie Fuel Plant near Glasgow which produces sustainable biofuel from waste.

Drax runs a variety of initiatives to support STEM education and skills in Scotland including offering power station toursinteractive workshops and work experience opportunities.

Applications are opening soon for Drax’s next work experience for students in Y10-Y12 or S4-S6 in Scotland. For more details go to www.drax.com/careers.

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 4 million tonnes 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 production capacity of around 5 million tonnes a year.

Drax is targeting 8 million tonnes of production capacity by 2030, which will require the development of over 3 million tonnes 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 plants supply biomass used at its own power station in North Yorkshire, England to generate flexible, renewable power for the UK’s homes and businesses, and also to customers in Europe and Asia.

Customers: 

Drax supplies renewable electricity to UK businesses, offering 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