Energy business Drax contributed £34m towards the GDP of Wales in 2015 and supported 550 jobs in the country’s economy.

The findings were revealed in a new report looking at the Group’s UK operations, which includes Drax Power Station - Europe’s largest decarbonisation project.

One Newport firm, Chepstow Plant, was among those from Wales which worked with Drax. Chepstow Plant provides mobile plant equipment to transport and manage biomass.

Researchers at Oxford Economics studied the impact of Drax Group on the UK’s economy as the company nears completion of a hi-tech engineering and infrastructure scheme to upgrade half the generating units at Drax power station near Selby in North Yorkshire to use sustainable biomass in place of coal.

The report estimates that the group’s activities and that of companies in its supply chain last year contributed £1.2bn to the UK economy and supported 14,150 jobs.

Employment covered a wide range of sectors including high-skilled manufacturing of industrial components, engineering and technical machinery, construction, IT, professional business services and transport.

Drax Group’s procurement with suppliers in Wales last year reached £6m and included Chepstow Plant in Newport which provides mobile plant equipment to transport and manage biomass.

The report also analysed the economic impact of upgrading Drax to use compressed wood pellets instead of coal. It reveals this project has thus far generated £13m for the local economy and supported 250 jobs in Wales.

Drax Group CEO Dorothy Thompson said: “This report shows Drax is supporting more than 14,000 jobs across the UK, with the vast majority resulting from our upgrades to biomass technology.

“The economic benefit has reached all parts of the country. We have been the catalyst for rejuvenation and growth across the Northern Powerhouse with port expansion on the coasts of East Yorkshire, the North West and North East.

“Drax is now the UK’s biggest single generator of renewable power. With the right support from Government we aim to upgrade more of our electricity production to using compressed wood pellets. This would provide a further boost to the UK economy, and deliver increased carbon savings.”