Drax Adds Rail Link
A one-year-old rail link has increased capacity to deliver more sustainable biomass from Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy pellet plant in Urania, La., to its UK power station. The $15 million rail link, combined with other initiatives, have already contributed to a $5/tonne reduction in Drax’s biomass production costs in 2019.
The five miles of rail track connects Drax’s LaSalle BioEnergy pellet plant to the regional rail network, enabling freight trains to deliver the pellets to the company’s dedicated export facility at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. The addition of the rail link has allowed Drax to deliver around 7,000 tonnes of sustainable biomass to the Port of Greater Baton Rouge in each train, compared to just 27 tonnes that could be transported by each truck previously.
A team of close to 40 contractors worked through two of the wettest Louisiana winters in decades to clear the site, excavating around 180,000 cubic yards of dirt to level off the ground and stabilize it before three sets of rail tracks could be laid. The work also included installing conveyors to get the pellets to the new rail loading point.
The rail link was commissioned last May and is now fully operational—and is part of Drax’s wider efforts to cut the costs of its biomass by around a third by 2027.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Drax Announces $40M Investment In Arkansas
Drax Sets Sights On Carbon Capture
Pinnacle Renewable Energy To Be Acquired By Drax Group
Earthworm, Drax Working Together
Latest news
Election May Give New Hope For Arizona Biomass
A major reshuffling of candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission may bring new life to a derailed effort that would expand biomass utilization in the state to help facilitate much-needed forest thinning and restoration efforts. A state court judge recently threw multiple candidates off the ballot due to irregularities in signature-gathering, including an incumbent and the commission’s biggest biomass supporter…
Alaska Coal Firm Acquires Pellet Mill
Officials with Alaska-based Usibelli Mines, Inc. recently announced the company has acquired Superior Pellet Fuels of Fairbanks, which produces wood pellets and briquettes for local markets. New Usibelli…
SUNY Cobleskill Gasifier Wins $5.8M Wildfire Grant
A $5.8 million grant from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was awarded to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cobleskill for a gasifier project that converts woody biomass into clean burning fuel. The grant project is led by SUNY Cobleskill visiting professor David Waage and uses his patented inclined rotary gasifier, initially funded by…
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.