Shifting freight sustainably

Phase one of Liverpool’s biomass terminal and its extensive rail facility was opened seven months ago.

David Huck, port director said that the biomass terminal project is strategically important to the port for a variety of reasons. For one thing, it makes better use of the extensive rail facilities at the port.

“It supports our aim of shifting freight from road to more sustainable forms such as rail or water. And it’s a very tangible east-west partnership in the linkages connecting the Northern Powerhouse,” he said.

The Drax power station is both the single largest carbon saving project in Europe and the UK’s biggest single generator of renewable electricity.

It can produce almost 2,000MW of renewable power, enough for three million homes and accounting for around 12% of renewable generation in the UK.

The power station is supplied with sustainable biomass shipped directly by rail from the terminal. Each service carries around 1700 tonnes of compressed wood pellets manufactured and imported from North America as a by-product from working forests and the sawmill industry.

Mr Huck continued: “Clearly our primary market is in providing efficient logistics connectivity within the North-west, which has a significant concentration of consumers, manufacturers and supply chain facilities.”

“However, our customers also need the flexibility to go further in the UK than our immediate hinterland and our direct rail capacity at the port is crucial to that.”