A new biomass terminal is to be built at the Port of Liverpool. The £100 million facility will handle up to three million tonnes of wood pellets a year to supply Drax power station in Yorkshire.

The pellets, which will be shipped from North America, are a by-product of the commercial forestry and saw-milling industry. The terminal will include a new rail loading facility and storage capacity for 100,000 tonnes.

Port owner Peel Ports claims the project will create around 47 permanent jobs and construction of the facility and supply chain will create an extra 300 jobs.

The project is expected to cut Drax power station’s carbon footprint by around 12 million tonnes every year – equivalent to removing 10% of the cars on UK roads.

Last week it revealed it expects to save 20 million tonnes of carbon emissions by July as a result of replacing coal with biomass.

Andy Koss, CEO, Drax Power Limited said: “The biomass terminal at the Port of Liverpool, will enable us to further our ambitious decarbonisation plans and ensure Drax continues to lead the charge when it comes to creating sustainable, affordable renewable power.”

“By shipping to Liverpool and transporting our biomass via rail, Peel Ports have provided us with a logistics solution which minimises carbon emissions and helps us maintain our low carbon manifesto.”

The new terminal is set to open in October 2015 and will become fully operational in July 2016.

Truong Duy