How Drax is putting the Humber on the global stage: Bruce Heppenstall

Drax Power Station started producing power on the edge of the vast Selby coalfield almost 50 years ago in 1974.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Aug 2023, 01:00 BST
Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest single site source of renewable power, providing 11 per cent of the UK’s renewable power each year, says Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Plant Director. (Photo submitted by Drax)Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest single site source of renewable power, providing 11 per cent of the UK’s renewable power each year, says Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Plant Director. (Photo submitted by Drax)
Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest single site source of renewable power, providing 11 per cent of the UK’s renewable power each year, says Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Plant Director. (Photo submitted by Drax)

That same year President Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal and Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman in the famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ heavyweight boxing fight. While Nixon, Ali and Selby coal are now part of history; Drax is still here. It’s very much part of the present and could soon start a new chapter in its own history as the largest carbon removal project not just in the UK or Europe, but in the world.

Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest single site source of renewable power, providing 11 per cent of the UK’s renewable power each year. Every day the facility in Yorkshire provides a secure, reliable and flexible source of electricity to five million homes across the country – it’s a vital part of supporting the UK’s energy security.

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But we have bigger ambitions. We’re ready to put Yorkshire and the Humber at the forefront of net zero, investing £2bn in the cutting-edge technology that is BECCS – bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.

This technology doesn’t just generate power; it permanently removes carbon from the atmosphere, storing it under the North Sea. And this investment will have the potential to remove 8m tonnes of carbon emissions from the atmosphere each year.

BECCS isn’t a nice to have. As the Government said in its Biomass Strategy published last week: Greenhouse Gas Removal technologies, including BECCS, are essential if the UK is to meet it’s net zero target by 2050. To hit that, according to the Climate Change Committee, we need to remove 58m tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year via engineered solutions to compensate for the emissions overshoot we’ll get from difficult to decarbonise sectors like aviation and agriculture. Drax can provide almost 15 per cent of that – more than any other single source.

BECCS at Drax will bring the jobs and green industries of tomorrow to the North, boosting skills and supporting 10,000 jobs. New figures released by Oxford Economics show that Drax Power Station supports 3,550 jobs across the North alone, contributing £411m to the region’s economy each year. For Yorkshire and the Humber specifically, this equates to 2,580 jobs and £358m added to the economy each year.

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As well as jobs, BECCS at Drax will help us to continue to support the local community. Through charitable giving, we donate millions to support STEM education and local community initiatives. Most recently, our Drax Foundation pledged £1.5m to help schools save on their energy bills by installing energy-efficient LED lights and solar panels, saving an estimated £8,600 per year. There’s so much we can achieve with BECCS – for the region, the UK and the world. Government decisions this year will mean we can put plans into action and help position the UK as a global leader in carbon removal technologies. That’s a part of history I feel proud to be part of. Discover more at www.drax.com/BackBECCS.

Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Plant Director. Drax is one of the sponsors for this year's Great Northern Conference which is being held in Bradford in September. For more information visit: www.greatnorthernconference.co.uk

Related topics:HumberMuhammad AliYorkshireGovernment