MP visits £100m Merseyside biomass terminal as phase one nears completion

Work on the first phase of Merseyside’s new £100m biomass terminal, which will allow Drax Power Station in Yorkshire to slash its carbon emissions, is nearing completion.

MP Louise Ellman inspected the site at the Port of Liverpool on Friday (August 7), when she met up with representatives of Peel Ports and Drax Group to find out more about the development.

She said: “This project must be supported as part of The Northern Powerhouse. It will bring great benefits to Liverpool, including innovation, jobs and new trade opportunities.

“It is also a fantastic demonstration of the type of investment that will drive economic growth in the region through new port infrastructure, greater connectivity between east and west and new partnerships between great northern assets like the Port of Liverpool and Drax Power Station.”

The project’s first phase, which opens in October, will lead to 47 new permanent jobs at the port. Once the biomass terminal is operational, it will see four trains arrive every day carrying North American wood pellets to be used as a low-carbon fuel source at Drax Power Station.

The new biomass facility forms part of the wider growth plans for the Port of Liverpool. Peel Ports is already investing £300m to launch Liverpool2, which will be the most centrally located deep-water container terminal in the UK when it opens in December.

Peel Ports’ group planning director, Warren Marshall, commented: “It was a pleasure to be able to show Louise around and talk her through the project as it nears completion.

“Not only are we opening Liverpool up to new trade opportunities but we are creating greater links across the North and unlocking the economic potential of The Northern Powerhouse.”

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