Louisiana Governor visits Drax Power Station in Yorkshire
Drax has welcomed Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire.
The State of Louisiana is central to Drax’s global operations, with its wood pellet production industry helping to keep the lights on for millions of UK homes and businesses. By value, Drax is the largest agricultural importer from the US to the UK and a ‘critical’ international trade partner.
Louisiana is home to the headquarters of Drax Biomass in Monroe, with the company’s LaSalle and Morehouse pellet plants also based in the state. Drax also operates an export facility in the Port of Baton Rouge to ship biomass to the UK and its customers globally. These facilities directly employ more than 200 people.
During his tour of the power station, Governor Edwards learned more about Drax’s plans to deploy bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology. Following the visit, Governor Edwards and a delegation from Drax are attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
“We are very happy to welcome Governor Edwards to Drax so he could see for himself how sustainable biomass from Louisiana is helping keep the lights on for millions of UK homes and businesses,” said Jason Shipstone, Drax’s chief innovation officer.
“Our exciting plans to use BECCS mean Louisiana could play an even greater role in addressing the climate crisis, as we aim to develop the world’s biggest negative emissions power station, permanently removing eight million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year by 2030.”
Governor Edwards commented: “I am impressed with the scale and technology of this world-class power generation facility.
“Moving to net zero will require investments that replace coal-fired plants and Drax can achieve this with negative emissions of CO2. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Drax in Louisiana in the future.”
Drax is working with Bechtel to explore the potential to develop new-build BECCS projects overseas, including in the US.
The State of Louisiana is central to Drax’s global operations, with its wood pellet production industry helping to keep the lights on for millions of UK homes and businesses. By value, Drax is the largest agricultural importer from the US to the UK and a ‘critical’ international trade partner.
Louisiana is home to the headquarters of Drax Biomass in Monroe, with the company’s LaSalle and Morehouse pellet plants also based in the state. Drax also operates an export facility in the Port of Baton Rouge to ship biomass to the UK and its customers globally. These facilities directly employ more than 200 people.
During his tour of the power station, Governor Edwards learned more about Drax’s plans to deploy bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technology. Following the visit, Governor Edwards and a delegation from Drax are attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
“We are very happy to welcome Governor Edwards to Drax so he could see for himself how sustainable biomass from Louisiana is helping keep the lights on for millions of UK homes and businesses,” said Jason Shipstone, Drax’s chief innovation officer.
“Our exciting plans to use BECCS mean Louisiana could play an even greater role in addressing the climate crisis, as we aim to develop the world’s biggest negative emissions power station, permanently removing eight million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere each year by 2030.”
Governor Edwards commented: “I am impressed with the scale and technology of this world-class power generation facility.
“Moving to net zero will require investments that replace coal-fired plants and Drax can achieve this with negative emissions of CO2. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Drax in Louisiana in the future.”
Drax is working with Bechtel to explore the potential to develop new-build BECCS projects overseas, including in the US.
