Surge in apprenticeship numbers at Drax Power Station

Twelve are technical apprentices who could go on to become the power generator’s engineers of the future with one further apprentice joining Drax’s system security team, working to ensure the safety of all staff on site.

Six will be in mechanical positions, four in electrical and two working in the control and instrumentation teams.

This year’s apprentices are aged between 15 and 22 with five from Goole and the rest coming from across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

“Supporting ambitious young people to develop their skills is critical to the future success of our business. By helping them to grow and learn, we can ensure that we have the talented workforce our business and the wider Northern Powerhouse region needs to thrive.”

In the first half of 2019, Drax halved its carbon emissions compared to the year before with more than 90 per cent of the power produced being renewable – enough for more than four million households.

Drax has ambitions of becoming the world’s first negative emissions power station by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the same time as producing renewable power – critical to reaching the UK’s net zero carbon ambitions.

One of the new trainees is Dan Callon, part of the successful team from Selby College, supported by Drax, which won the GreenPower EV race for schools in Hull earlier in the year.

Dan, from Brayton in Selby, said of his new apprenticeship: “I knew I wanted to work in a hands-on, practical engineering role but didn’t want to go down the academic route. Having opportunities like this at Drax was a really good move for me.”

The 17-year-old added: “I really enjoyed building and racing the electric car in the GreenPower Race which Drax organised. I got to work with some of my friends from Selby College, as well as getting advice from engineers at Drax. In the end we actually won the overall race.

“I’m looking forward to progressing my career with Drax, learning new skills and getting some good experience here.”

Simran Ley, aged 20, has also joined Drax as a technical apprentice. She said: “I knew I wanted to go down the apprenticeship route as it provides the sort of practical experience you can’t get at university.

“Drax is well known for its engineering, it made it an obvious choice for me to apply to.”

Drax offers apprenticeships in engineering disciplines as well as business support areas, such as finance and business administration.

It has also recently launched a scheme to recruit apprentices at its Scottish power generation sites and plans to publish more details on this later in the year.