Pupils in Year 6 have been learning about Climate Change and Energy this term. Within the context of this project, Mrs Emmett thought that a visit to Drax Power Station would be an exciting opportunity. Drax Power Station is the UK’s largest renewable power station with an output of some 14 terawatt-hours of renewable power, which is enough electricity to power five million homes.
On their tour, the pupils were in awe of the size of the operation. They saw first-hand the process of electricity production, right from the production of the biomass pellets on freight trains to the storage of the pellets and through to the pulverising machines. The pellets are transported on conveyors belts that transport them between the different stages of production. The pupils also saw the steam turbines and the generators that are connected to the national grid and which distribute the electricity produced at the plant. At full capacity, up to twenty freight trains arrive daily with each up to 25 carriages and each carriage carrying enough biomass pellers to fuel one million homes for a few minutes.
William said, “We arrived at the Skylark Centre and Drax staff, Natalie and Vicky, introduced themselves. They explained how the power station worked at Drax and how it is supplied with Biomass pellets using models, an interactive presentation and some fun actions! In the afternoon, we began our adventure inside the power plant. First we got ready in our PPE and split into two groups. Our group went inside the power station first and saw the pulverising machines, huge fans, turbines and generators in action. Then we had a look around the outside of the power plant and saw the biomass domes, cooling towers, conveyor belts, trains and even some coal that had just arrived at Drax under government orders to get the UK through winter (shhhh…. don’t tell anyone)!”
The staff at the Drax power plant staff were extremely complimentary about the pupils and said their questions were outstanding. The pupils were a real credit to the school and their behaviour was exemplary. We would like to thank Mr Robson for accompanying the children and Mrs Emmett for organising the visit. The field trip ties in wonderfully with Mr Robson’s science topic on electricity after Christmas as well.
