Drax’s Biomass Pelleting Plant, in Goole has scooped the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Chairman’s Awards and Commendations, Small Business Award at an award ceremony hosted by Claire Frisby of BBC Look North at the Bridlington Spa.

A panel of councillors and council employees selected the pellet plant as the winner in its category after hearing about the huge investment Drax has made in the area; the number of jobs the plant has directly created; the financial lifeline the plant gives local farmers and the huge environmental benefits the plant has heralded.

The pellet plant’s role is to turn straw, sourced from local farmers and elsewhere, into pellets that can be burnt in Drax Power Station’s boilers alongside coal. By displacing coal in this way, huge reductions in CO2 emissions can be made and farmers in East Yorkshire and beyond benefit from a new market for their by-product.

Eric Jordan, Pellet Plant Supervisor, attended the awards and said:

“This award is a great achievement for the plant and for Drax. It recognises that Drax is a great employer that invests in its staff while at the same time contributing to a greener future and the local economy. Everyone at the Pellet Plant is very pleased and proud’.

Rob Wood, Biomass Buyer who runs Drax’s Green Shoots programme through which farmers to sell biomass to Drax, said:

“The more straw that we can source from cereal farmers in the East Riding of Yorkshire the better for the local economy and the environment. We are always on the look out for farmers who are interested in supplying us with biomass. It’s a real win-win for the environment and for farmers so we hope the publicity surrounding this award will encourage more to come forward.”

The plant, which opened in 2009, employs 24 people on a full time basis and also creates income for about 30 farms around East Riding of Yorkshire. It can produce 100,000 tonnes of straw pellets per year which are transported to the Drax Power Station where they are co-fired with coal through a new, £80 million co-firing facility.

For more information, please contact:

Melanie Wedgbury/Rachael Hudson
Drax Power 01757 618381

Lisa McGauley/Richard Harrison
Imagen PR 01943 468778

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Notes to editors:

1. The Chairman’s Awards and Commendations are now in their eleventh year. The awards are presented annually by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to individuals, companies and organisations within the East Riding of Yorkshire in recognition of their achievements towards enhancing the area in which they work and live.

2. Photograph
Pictured (from left to right): Claire Frisby (BBC Look North), Eric Jordan (Pellet Plant Supervisor), and Councillor Christopher Matthews (Chairman of East Riding Council).