00:00So the location of Drax is all about geography. This site was originally put here because
00:19of access to affordable coal, but the other important aspect of Drax's location is water.
00:26To run a power station of this size you need access to water resources, so we're located
00:30close to the River Rouse where we can take water out to cool the system and keep the
00:34plant operational.
00:36Drax Power Station used to be the largest coal-fired power station in Western Europe,
00:43providing secure, reliable power for the UK, but its role has changed as the needs of the
00:50UK energy system have changed.
00:52For me, Drax and Drax's history is a story of change and transition, and when we've converted
00:59Drax from coal to biomass, it's meant that the UK's electricity grid has actually decarbonised
01:04quicker than any other electricity grid in Europe.
01:08Drax Power Station was built on the old Selby Coalfields that were discovered in the late
01:1460s, and it was the last power station to be built in the area, and it was the biggest.
01:21I came up to Drax in 1970 with Cape Insulation, and we were more or less the first ones on
01:30site to start insulating the boilers.
01:33It was amazing, job-wise, I mean at one time I believe it employed about 3,000 people.
01:41The privatisation of the then CGB, the nationalised industry that ran all of the power generation
01:47in the UK up to the end of the 80s, was a huge moment for Drax and the industry.
01:52For Drax it meant more opportunity, it meant more freedom to invest in things that made
01:57sense locally here, and ultimately it meant the opportunity to convert to biomass.
02:04From where I grew up locally, if you were on the right hill, you could see Drax Power
02:12Station, Ferrybridge Power Station, Egborough Power Station, Cotton Power Station and West
02:17Burton Power Station, and with a little bit of a drive you could even get to Ratcliffe
02:21Power Station, so coal-fired power stations were all around me when I grew up.
02:26I remember Drax coming into schools and colleges, and it's how I'd had a part to play there.
02:32A lot of people in the community are either employed directly through Drax, or work on
02:39the site, or employed through some of the supply chain and support network that goes
02:44around it.
02:45It makes a huge impact to the community around us.
02:49What I love most about my job is the idea that I'm directly involved in tackling net zero.
02:57I'm now in the innovation team, and essentially what we're doing is we're going to keep looking
03:02at new opportunities, trying to solve problems that the business has now and might face in
03:07the future, and that might be through adapting the way that we operate the plant, new technologies,
03:13or even new markets and new products.
03:16We've got another important transition that we need to enable going forward, and that's
03:21turning what is a power station that provides secure, reliable biomass power for the nation
03:26into one that can provide carbon removals too.
03:29So as the needs of the power system have changed, the role of the power station is changing,
03:35but it's got a vitally important role going forward to provide secure power and carbon removals.
03:41BEX is bioenergy with carbon capture and storage.
03:44So essentially what that means is it's a new process piece of equipment that we'll be installing
03:51at the power station, which essentially takes the carbon dioxide out of the flue gas that's
03:56currently emitted, and then it stores that underground.
04:01DRAX has a really important role in pushing that power through the national grid system,
04:06making sure that it gets to the locations to keep people powered and keep the kettles
04:11boiling and keep the lights on.
04:13I'm tremendously proud that DRAX has got to its 50th anniversary.
04:17It's a key milestone for everybody who works here.
04:20We're in great shape with our conversion to sustainable biomass, and with BEX we're looking
04:25at hopefully another 50 years.
04:27BEX technology at DRAX Power Station will provide a long-term and critical future for
04:32this asset, helping to sustain jobs and growth and opportunities in this region.
04:38It'll continue to be a beacon, not just for power generation, but for decarbonisation,
04:43an emblem for how we can change the way in which we produce electricity and we keep the
04:48lights on around the country.
04:57DRAX has had a real focus on community and on building local prosperity and growth.
05:18As a result of this, there's been a key focus on skills and talent and really engaging with
05:24the next generation.
05:26That means building relationships with students of all ages and really driving the ambition
05:32and the aspirations of our local next generation.
05:36There's going to be 500,000 green energy jobs created within the next 10 years, and DRAX
05:42will obviously play a huge part and be at the forefront of a lot of those roles.
05:46The educational side of things is probably front and centre of everything that we do
05:49here.
05:50We work with schools from primary all the way up to universities.
05:53We provide funding for engineering apprenticeship, and we also provide funding for projects which
06:00deliver educational programmes directly to young people around STEM or green skills.
06:06Sudbury College is at the heart of the community.
06:08We're a general further education college.
06:11We're really committed to the whole STEM agenda.
06:15I think as a college, we're really fortunate to be in such close proximity to DRAX, and
06:20they've played a key part really in supporting us.
06:26STEM is tremendously important to us here at DRAX Power Station because we've been running
06:30for 50 years.
06:31We want to run for another potentially 50 years, and the people who are going to do
06:35that are the school children of today.
06:38STEM education is so important to enable careers in chemistry and engineering at sites like
06:44DRAX.
06:45I did the traditional A-levels of biology, chemistry and maths, and had an affinity towards
06:51the chemistry, so the diverse level of knowledge that I have now compared to 17 years ago when
06:58I started is huge.
07:01I've always lived locally to DRAX, so it's been really interesting to see how the plant's
07:05developed from living locally to working here, and then the changes that have been undertaken
07:10in the time that I've been here, with the promise of BEX hopefully in the future as
07:15well.
07:16My family moved to Yorkshire in the early 1980s, so I was lucky enough to be able to
07:21watch the north cooling towers as they were constructed.
07:24My dad also worked in the industry, so he was at DRAX, and I used to come with him occasionally,
07:31though I already had that interaction before I looked at DRAX as an employer.
07:36When I was ready to re-enter the workforce after having my second child, the job came
07:41up in my department.
07:42It was ideal.
07:44I'd worked in the energy industry myself, so I had a good understanding.
07:48I also worked with children, and the hours fitted around my family life.
07:53We have a team that delivers projects that use Lego to help develop programming skills.
07:59We interact with career sessions.
08:02We also have a partnership with Selby College, which looks at skilling, re-skilling and green
08:08skills.
08:10Selby College has got a reputation now of being at the cutting edge in terms of some
08:15of those courses that we run, particularly around carbon capture.
08:21We've been the first college in the country to develop those programmes, and that is down
08:26to DRAX and their commitment.
08:28We work closely with DRAX, and they're really enabling us to accelerate those developments,
08:35raise awareness, but more importantly, to create the workforce for the future.
08:41DRAX Power Station and its operations supports over 6,500 jobs in the Humber and Yorkshire
08:47region.
08:48That's over £350 million of added value, and one of the biggest business in our area
08:53of North Yorkshire.
08:56I think the region is rightly proud that not only do we have a really important asset that
09:00helps power the UK, but it will have an asset that can help fight climate change in the
09:05long term, helping to sustain the critical employment that we have today, long into the future.
09:31Decarbonisation clearly has to be driven by innovative thinking and new forms of technology
09:40and real innovation, and I think we're pioneering that at DRAX Power Station.
09:45Fighting climate change is really an absolute necessity so that we can continue to inhabit
09:50and enjoy the planet that we've lived on for so many years.
09:55Recognising the need to decarbonise, DRAX converted to sustainable biomass.
10:00So we still provide secure power, but now we're able to do that in a way that's sustainable.
10:07The way that we've converted this power station to operate from coal to biomass is a really
10:12important transition in technology, and I think it's something that other coal-fired
10:17power stations around the world have looked at.
10:20But what's even more compelling and what's even more exciting is the journey that will
10:23go on after that, which is converting a biomass power station to one that can take CO2 out
10:29of the atmosphere.
10:31So Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage, or BECCS as we call it here at DRAX, is actually
10:35where we capture the biogenic carbon dioxide that's coming off the flue gases, and using
10:41a process there, we can actually concentrate that up, then put it into a pipeline where
10:46it can be then transported to depleted natural gas reserves under the North Sea, where it's
10:52locked away forever.
10:54The work that DRAX does will drive the energy transition, not only for the Humber, but for
11:00the UK.
11:01For the UK, it's essential to decarbonise the Humber.
11:06We are the industrial cluster emitting the most CO2 by far.
11:10So without decarbonising Humber, then the UK will not reach net zero targets.
11:15And with the pioneering technology that we have now coming and emerging with DRAX, working
11:22in carbon capture and storage, the DRAX influence and the DRAX progress means that the Humber
11:28as a whole will be at the forefront of the UK transition.
11:37So I've been working on trying to develop a carbon capture pipeline in the Humber.
11:41This is critical technology that can help this really important industrial corridor
11:47decarbonise.
11:48And what I mean by that is, is a buried pipeline, a pipeline that will run in the first instance
11:53from DRAX power station through the Humber region to the North Sea.
11:58And it will take CO2 emissions that we can capture here at the plant through the region
12:03and store them deep under the North Sea forever.
12:05Now, the really interesting thing about the Humber is that that pipeline from DRAX to
12:11the coast will go past a number of other assets that are also looking at how they decarbonise
12:17their operations with carbon capture and storage.
12:20So this pipeline will provide a means for the whole region, particularly the industrial
12:24assets to decarbonise and have a role for this economy long into the future.
12:30At DRAX, what we're going to be doing is removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and when
12:35we remove a tonne of CO2, we can convert that into a carbon credit.
12:40And those carbon credits are things that can be bought and sold on the market.
12:44So other corporates who want to decarbonise, they can look at their own carbon footprint
12:49and where they can see they've got remaining carbon emissions, they can buy a carbon credit
12:55to neutralise that carbon emission.
12:57So carbon markets are really effective ways of getting money into carbon removal projects.
13:04And at DRAX, we want to be world leaders in setting the bar high, in setting high standards
13:10and developing standards that the rest of the industry globally can follow.
13:15And happily, DRAX has real experts in carbon accounting that we can draw on so that we
13:19can develop these high integrity standards using the fabulous expertise that we've got
13:24in the company.
13:25DRAX Power Station is an international decarbonisation beacon.
13:31We are at the forefront of fighting climate change and whilst there are many projects
13:35being proposed around the world that will prevent CO2 from entering the atmosphere or
13:40even help remove CO2 from the atmosphere, there's nowhere else globally that can remove
13:47as much CO2 from the atmosphere as DRAX Power Station.
13:51So for the Humber, it puts us at the forefront and very importantly, the new technologies
13:55and the learnings here can then be replicated around the world.
14:01So what BEX does is that it really helps the Humber be seen as a testbed for the energy transition.
14:08And going forward, that means that globally, we can reach net zero.
14:13This will put the UK at the centre of the global fight against climate change, helping
14:19to sustain our economy locally, having a critical national role, but showing the world that
14:25the UK is leading the way in keeping this planet in the state that we expect it to be.
14:31www.bex.gov.uk
14:33www.bex.gov.uk
14:35www.bex.gov.uk
14:37www.bex.gov.uk
14:39www.bex.gov.uk
14:41www.bex.gov.uk
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