The 海角视频’s largest power station has received a second milestone shipment of its biomass energy feedstock inside a month, as the 100th cargo crossing from its dedicated US export facility was welcomed.
Facilities were established by Drax Group at Baton Rouge, the final deepwater port on the Mississippi, back in 2015.
And the sustainable load was received at Port of Immingham, with Ultrabulk’s MV Ultra Jaguar vessel carrying the 62,846 tonnes from Louisiana, where three pellet plants owned by the North Yorkshire giant are located near.
She followed Zheng Zhi’s record cargo of 63,907 tonnes, arriving earlier in March.
The cargo is enough fuel to generate electricity for around 1.3 million homes, with the power consumed the end result of what has been a £750 million decarbonisation programme in recent years.
It has also seen the development of the world’s largest reception facilities at Port of Immingham, where the vessel discharged amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Will Gardiner, Drax Group chief executive, said: “We’re very proud of what Drax has achieved since we started using sustainable biomass instead of coal at the power station – by developing a global supply chain for sustainable biomass, our operations support thousands of jobs and have delivered economic growth across the North of England and in the US South.
“Maintaining our supply chain so we can continue to generate the renewable electricity the country needs is all the more important right now as we continue to play a critical role in producing power to help the fight against Covid-19. Our teams are working around the clock to keep generating the power the country needs.”
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Baton Rouge Transit has shipped more than five million tonnes of sustainable biomass to ports on the 海角视频’s east and west coast in the five years since the first vessel was waved off on April 6, 2015.
At Immingham, the principal port due to the size of vessel handled, the heavily automated process takes biomass from the hull via vacuum discharger and conveyors, to the skyline-changing silo facility back from the river frontage, before being filtered into a rail transfer station and carried by bespoke wagon to the opposite end of the Humber.
Stateside, Drax Biomass senior vice president Matt White said: “In the past five years, the team at Drax’s Baton Rouge facility has gone from loading its first vessel with 20,000 tonnes of sustainable wood pellets, to the 100th vessel, which loaded almost 63,000 tonnes. The team did this while achieving an industry-leading safety record, underscoring its focus and commitment to the wellbeing of our employees.
“We will continue to work around the clock to maintain consistent and reliable deliveries of sustainable biomass to Drax Power Station – a critical national asset which supplies 12 per cent of the 海角视频’s renewable power. This is especially important during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. We have plans and processes in place to ensure our key workers can continue to carry out their vitally important roles safely during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Drax said it is working closely with its suppliers in North America and Europe, as well as partners in the rail freight sector and at port facilities in the US and 海角视频 to maintain a resilient supply chain amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 海角视频 government has identified Drax as critical national infrastructure, so too Port of Immingham and the logistics between. The US federal government and most state and local authorities have made similar designations relating to biomass.
Around two thirds of the 7.5 million tonnes of sustainable biomass Drax uses each year comes from managed working forests in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.
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In addition to its own wood pellet production, Drax also has agreements with a number of other suppliers in the US and elsewhere around the world, including in Canada, the Baltics and Portugal, as well as multiple trading relationships.
The operations now support around 5,700 jobs, generating £600 million per year for the region’s economy.
Drax is also the driver behind plans for a huge carbon capture, use and storage network for the Humber, with an £800 million pot announced for at least two projects in the 海角视频 as it gears up for Net Zero.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak name-checked the Humber on Budget Day.