Seven apprentices have been appointed to the Drax Power Station near Selby following the plant's move from coal to sustainable wood pellets.
The young trainees - all from neighbouring towns - will work alongside Drax engineers at Britain's largest power station which underwent one of Europe's largest decarbonisation projects as it turned to the renewable fuel. Bruce Heppenstall, Drax plant director said: "Meeting our new apprentices is one of the highlights of my job.
"Providing these young people with the tools needed to become the skilled workforce of the future is not only essential to the success of our business, it’s also an incredibly rewarding part of what we do. Giving our apprentices the opportunity to work on the cutting-edge, environmental technologies of the future will ensure we’re nurturing our in-house talent and creating opportunities for people here in the North to lead the green energy revolution needed to get the UK to net zero, supporting a post-Covid economic recovery."
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The cohort of technical apprentices includes: Centime Breach-Frank,19, from Goole; Ethan Dealtry, 18, from Goole; Ethan Stringer, 19, from Thorne, Doncaster; Jack Woods, 19, from Thorpe Willoughby; Joshua Whiteley, 17, from Osgodby, near Selby; Matthew Taylor, 17, from Knottingley, near Ferrybridge; and Ryan Stocks, 19, from Barlby, near Selby. Centime Breach-Frank, who has joined Drax as an electrical apprentice, said: "I applied for an apprenticeship at Drax because it offers incredible opportunities and the chance to gain experience for my future career. I’m most looking forward to meeting and working alongside highly skilled engineers, many of whom started out their careers as apprentices in the same way I have."
Mechanical apprentice Ryan Stocks said: "I applied for an apprenticeship at Drax because of all the opportunities it offers and the innovations they’re currently working on such as the BECCS project. I think the future for Drax is exciting and I’m proud to be joining the team. I’m looking forward to working with experienced engineers to broaden my skills and knowledge of the industry."
The trainees are all on the four-year technical apprenticeship programme within the maintenance department of the power station, with three in mechanical roles and four in the electrical and instrumentation team. Drax aims to become carbon negative by 2030 by using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) and recently submitted plans to build two BECCS units, creating and supporting tens of thousands of jobs across the North.
Work on the units could start as soon as 2024 and once operational they will capture at least 8 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
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