350ft cooling towers at Drax power station in Yorkshire to be lit up with New Year's message

Drax has transformed the power station to become one of the biggest decarbonisation projects in Europe having converted four of its generating units to use sustainable biomass instead of coal. Drax now produces 12 per cent of Britain’s renewable electricity - enough for four million homes.

Bruce Heppenstall, plant director for Drax, said: “On behalf of Drax, I’d like to wish everyone a healthy, happy new year.

"Drax is already the country’s biggest renewable power generator, and we’re looking forward to an even greener future with our two remaining coal units scheduled to close completely in September 2022 – the end of an era and a major milestone in Drax’s journey to becoming a carbon negative business.”

Drax is developing negative emissions technology bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and plans to invest £40m in the project in 2022.

Work to build BECCS at Drax could get underway as soon as 2024 with the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.

Its first BECCS unit could be operational in 2027, with a second in 2030, creating the world’s biggest carbon capture in power project, permanently removing 8million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, making a significant contribution to the UK’s net zero targets.

The New Year’s message will be visible from 5pm – 3am on New Year’s Eve and 5pm – Midnight on New Year’s Day.

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James Mitchinson