Drax to boost skills and training with five-year Selby College partnership

Energy company Drax has reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to skills and training, supporting education across the North with a £180,000 partnership with Selby College.

The five-year partnership will enable the college to deliver community education programmes, as well as support for retraining, to ensure students are developing the skills needed in innovative clean technologies which will help to drive a zero carbon economy.

Upgrading Drax Power Station to use sustainable biomass instead of coal has transformed the business to become the largest decarbonisation project in Europe, protecting jobs and preserving the life of the power station.

Located just outside Selby in North Yorkshire, Drax is now the UK’s largest single site renewable power generator and pioneer of cutting edge negative emissions technology, Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) which could enable the company to go even further and become carbon negative as soon as 2030.

Bruce Heppenstall, Drax Power Station Plant Director, said:

“Through this partnership with Selby College we are looking beyond the Covid crisis towards a green economic recovery, powered by talented people and exciting, innovative technologies, like BECCS which Drax is pioneering.

“This partnership with Selby College will help people in our communities to learn the skills needed to pursue jobs in the green economy, and enable companies like Drax to continue to grow, and build a strong regional economy with thriving communities.”

Selby College been educating students in the heart of North Yorkshire for more than 35 years, providing education and training opportunities for more than 5,500 students, aged 16 right up to 70+.

Phil Sayles, Principal and Chief Executive of Selby College, said:

“We are delighted to be launching this partnership with Drax. Selby College is committed to supporting the community and has a strong track record of working with industries to understand their needs and develop tailored training packages to support workforce development. Creating education programmes that support upskilling and retraining are crucial for the UK as we look to the future, creating a green workforce that employers like Drax need.”

The package of support from Drax will see the college:

• Hold a series of events starting with a virtual conference on Green Energy in the spring, with high-profile key-note speakers, to help inspire students from local secondary schools to pursue careers in the sector
• Invest in ICT equipment to help even more students to study both in college and at home, making sure that no young person or adult learner is left behind if they need to self-isolate due to coronavirus.
• Purchase new science and engineering Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for students and support investment in state-of-the-art equipment over the next five years to support learning.

Nigel Adams MP, Member of Parliament for Selby and Ainsty, said:

“This is a perfect partnership, Drax at the forefront of developing and introducing new technologies for zero carbon energy generation and Selby College at the forefront of providing students with the knowledge and skills on which to build a successful career.

“I know both organisations very well and supported Drax in the conversion to green energy generation and must thank Selby College for their long-standing commitment to local employment including apprenticeship training and hosting my Jobs Fairs. This partnership will open up new opportunities for local people and enable them to develop the skills needed for our future. They will both continue to have my full support.”

Drax is working with a number of businesses on the Zero Carbon Humber initiative which aims to deploy carbon capture and hydrogen technology to decarbonise the UK’s largest industrial cluster by 2040.

Stephen Parnaby OBE, Chair of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, said:

“The Humber region is the most carbon intensive in the UK – using cutting edge technologies to decarbonise businesses here will make a significant contribution to the UK’s climate targets, whilst protecting 55,000 jobs.

“A skilled workforce is essential – the partnership between Drax and Selby College will play an important role in helping to create a cleaner environment for future generations whilst delivering new jobs and export opportunities for British businesses.”