HUNDREDS of jobs will be axed as a North Yorkshire power station announces plans to end almost 50 years of coal-fired electricity generation.

Drax, the country's largest power station near Selby, does not expect to use coal after March 2021 which will result in the loss of between 200 and 230 jobs.

Unite, the main trade union for the employees, along with GMB and Prospect unions, were informed on Wednesday evening, ahead of the news being made public today.

The announcement marks a milestone towards delivering Drax’s world-leading ambition to become carbon negative by 2030, and is a landmark moment in the UK’s efforts to achieve net zero by 2050.

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"It is a pretty historic day for us; after 50 years we are closing out coal unit," said Andy Koss, Drax CEO Generation.

"The message is coal is very much fuel of the past. We see ourselves as a renewable generator now. We are leading the field.

"Obviously the difficult message has been for people who are working in the coal unit. We have announced today 200 to 230 job losses. About a third of the operational staff will lose their jobs."

He added: "This is from April 2021. We have given people a year's notice. We want to work closely with them. As many of those redundancies can be voluntary. We are looking to maximise that.

"From our perspective, there are lots of power stations around us that were running on coal that have closed. This will be a wholly renewable power station in the future. We are preserving a lot of jobs here and in the supply jobs."

He said about 900 people work at Drax Power Station, with 640 of those working in operations. 

"I think they have known for a while. Coal is very much fuel of the past. People have seen this coming for sometime. Obviously it is always difficult to hear that news.

"We talked to the trade unions last night. The consultation will start in a couple of weeks. That's where we will get into the details of the roles and the redundancy package.

"We want to work closely with them and put a positive package on the table. We would hope to put something at the top end of the range, in terms of terms and conditions. Lots of people here have protected pensions. We will honour that. People will leave with good final salary pensions for those on that scheme."

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Andy Koss, Drax CEO Generation

Drax's two remaining coal units will remain available until September 2022 in line with its existing Capacity Market agreements.

Drax CEO Will Gardiner said: “Ending the use of coal at Drax is a landmark in our continued efforts to transform the business and become a world-leading carbon negative company by 2030. Drax’s journey away from coal began some years ago and I’m proud to say we’re going to finish the job well ahead of the Government’s 2025 deadline.”

Drax Power Station first started generating electricity using coal in the 1970s. Once the second half of the power station was built in the 1980s, it became the largest power station in the UK with the capacity to generate electricity for six million households.

Over the last decade four of the power station’s six generating units have been converted to use sustainable biomass, delivering carbon savings of more than 80 per cent compared to when they used coal.

This has transformed Drax to become the UK’s largest renewable power generator and the biggest decarbonisation project in Europe.

Mr Gardiner said: “By using sustainable biomass we have not only continued generating the secure power millions of homes and businesses rely on, we have also played a significant role in enabling the UK’s power system to decarbonise faster than any other in the world.

“Having pioneered ground-breaking biomass technology, we’re now planning to go further by using bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) to achieve our ambition of being carbon negative by 2030, making an even greater contribution to global efforts to tackle the climate crisis.”

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Drax is talking to the government, trades unions and industrial businesses across the North about joining with Drax in establishing a new Zero Carbon Skills Taskforce to help people in the region gain the skills and expertise required to seize new job opportunities as the UK moves towards a net zero economy.

Selby's MP said news of the job losses was "a blow" but he was confident Drax would be supporting staff over the coming months.

Nigel Adams, MP, said: "Drax's decision has been expected for some time given the focus the business has had on producing renewable energy.

"It will be a concern to some of the workers at the plant. I have spoken with the power station chief executive Will Gardiner and he has assured me they have entered a consultation with the union and no one will be laid off before 2021, and the company will be supporting staff during the consultation.

"There will be some people who choose to retire but it obviously important, and I am confident, that Drax will engage with the staff and unions to ensure this process is done with the minimum negative impact on its employees. Job losses are a blow whether it is two or 200 people. We are very fortunate in the Selby district that we have a high employment rate. Many companies I speak to find it challenging to find staff.

"The local economy is robust.

"They are still committed to carbon capture and storage which is fantastic news, not just for Drax but for the UK economy in general.

"They have also committed to a number of positive announcements including setting up a Zero Carbon Skills Taskforce.

"That's very positive."