Drax Announces $40M Investment In Arkansas

Drax Group will begin constructing the first of three new “satellite” pellet plants in Arkansas, the company has announced.

The three plants are together expected to produce around 120,000 metric tons of sustainable biomass pellets a year from sawmill residues, supporting the renewable energy company’s plans to increase self-supply to its power station in the U.K.

Drax will begin construction of the first plant later this month near a West Fraser sawmill in Leola, Grant County—with commissioning expected in October. The company will begin construction on two more plants in other locations in the coming months. In total, Drax will invest $40 million in the state, creating approximately 30 new direct jobs and many more indirect jobs across three Arkansas communities.

The development of the “satellite” pellet plants is part of Drax’s strategy to increase biomass self-supply to five million tons by 2027, improving supply chain resilience while reducing pellet costs.

Will Gardiner, Drax Group CEO, comments, “By building these new pellet plants Drax is bringing jobs and opportunities to rural communities in Arkansas, boosting the state’s post-COVID economic recovery. Through this investment, Arkansas will play an important role in combating climate change, supporting Drax to increase the amount of sustainable biomass we produce as part of our plans to pioneer bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. By using sustainable biomass, we have displaced coal-fired power generation, reduced carbon emissions and provided renewable electricity for millions of homes and businesses in the UK.”

The Leola satellite pellet plant is expected to produce around 40,000 metric tons of sustainable biomass pellets a year. Drax will utilize the sawdust and other dry residual materials from West Fraser’s co-located facility. By co-locating the pellet facilities with sawmills, Drax will benefit from lower infrastructure, operational and transportation costs.

The company will host job fairs to recruit for positions at the Leola site later this month.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Drax Supports United Way’s Latest Efforts

Construction Ongoing At Drax Pellet Plants

Westervelt Sells Pellet Interests

Drax Satellite Mills Go With BE&E

Drax Sets Sights On Carbon Capture

Pinnacle Renewable Energy To Be Acquired By Drax Group

Earthworm, Drax Working Together

Drax Adds Rail Link

Drax Can See End Of Coal Operations

Drax Appoints White To Lead U.S.

Latest news

FPIC At Louisiana Tech Receives Donation

Martin Sustainable Resources LLC of Alexandria, La. has donated $1 million to Louisiana Tech as a leadership gift toward construction of the University’s new Forest Products Innovation Center (FPIC), with the assurance of another $1 million to be presented by this June…

Weyerhaeuser Completes Carbon Credit Sale

Weyerhaeuser announced an agreement for the sale of nearly 32,000 forest carbon credits at $29 per credit. This agreement marks Weyerhaeuser’s first transaction in the voluntary carbon market and represents the sale of all credits issued by American Carbon Registry for the first year of the company’s Kibby Skinner Improved Forest Management (IFM) project in Maine…

Bandit Names Craig Davis CEO/President

Craig Davis is the new CEO and President of Bandit Industries, as announced by former CEO Jerry Morey. Davis joined Bandit in 2018 as sales director and has also been a part of the Bandit management board, overseeing marketing and parts management…

Find Us On Social

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Wood Bioenergy News Online hits the inboxes of subscribers in the wood-to-energy sectors.

Subscribe/Renew

Wood Bioenergy is published and delivered worldwide 6 times per year. Free to qualified readers in the U.S. Subscribers outside the U.S. are asked to pay a small fee.

Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative.