A new £100m biomass handling facility will see 47 new jobs created at the Port of Liverpool.
Port owner Peel Ports has struck a deal with the huge Drax power station in Yorkshire to handle up to 3m tonnes of wood pellets a year imported from North America.
The pellets are a by-product of the commercial forestry and saw-milling industry and will provide the Selby-based facility with a new, sustainable low carbon fuel source.
The deal, first revealed by the ECHO last year, will see the creation of 47 permanent jobs while construction of the facility and the supply chain will create up to a further 300 jobs.
All of the wood pellets will be sent to Drax by rail from Liverpool to Selby ensuring there is no impact on the local road network. The biomass terminal will include a rail loading facility and storage capacity for 100,000 tonnes
Mark Whitworth, chief executive of Peel Ports, said: “Our new relationship with Drax illustrates the importance of east/west connectivity in driving growth and creating jobs in the North of England.
“In addition it shows how globally important assets such as the Port of Liverpool can be used to unlock the potential of the Northern Powerhouse by helping businesses like Drax ensure the security of their supply by putting in place well thought out global supply chains.”
The biomass facility is in addition to the ongoing development of the £300m Liverpool2 port facility which will be able to handle 95% of the world’s cargo ships when it is operational later this year.
Peel claims Liverpool2, which will see the creation of 500 jobs, has the potential to “revolutionise” the UK logistics market by shifting imports away from the souther ports.
Mr Whitworth added: “Creating a deep-water container terminal in the north of England is a vitally important component of the Northern Powerhouse and will help to re-balance the economy.
“Currently more than 90% of deep-sea containers enter the UK through southern ports but more than 60% are delivered to or originate in the northern half of the UK.”
The biomass terminal, to be owned and operated by Ligna Biomass (a company owned by the shareholders of Peel Ports), is set to open in October 2015 and will only become fully operational in July 2016 when it will be able to facilitate up to ten train loads of pellets to be sent Drax per day.
