Biofuel terminal opens at Hull Port

A new terminal at Hull Port has opened that will import wood biofuel to supply Drax Power Station.

The Associated British Ports facility will handle millions of tonnes of wood pellets a year that have been imported from North America.

Once transferred from ships to a silo, the pellets will be loaded onto specially-designed freight train wagons, and delivered to Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, UK.

The facility is one part of a £100 million development project, which will also witness the construction of biomass terminals at Immingham and Goole in the North-East.

Engineering firm, the Spencer Group, built the terminal.

'The future of energy, is renewable energy. We talk a lot about offshore wind, and all the exciting opportunities, but biomass is already a renewable energy source that is creating a low-carbon economy. This is the first of a number of terminals we're opening in the Humber,' John Fitzgerald, ABP Port Director.

'Their plan is to move away from predominantly coal-fired power generation. By the end of this decade, we'll be handling for them upwards of eight or nine million tonnes of fuel.'