A VIRTUAL tour has been launched to showcase the UK's largest power station.

Drax Group has launched the free online resource to support student with their studies during the Covid-19 crisis.

Drax power station, near Selby, has become the biggest decarbonisation project in Europe since converting two thirds of the generating units to use sustainable biomass.

It annually has 12,000 visitors, many of whom are students, as part of Drax’s efforts to work with schools and colleges to promote Science Technology Engineering and Math subjects.

Drax has suspended its public tours to protect employees who are key workers.

Drax Group’s head of sustainable business, Vicky Bullivant, said: “We work closely with schools in our communities to inspire children from all backgrounds to study STEM subjects, so the next generation has the education and skills needed to support businesses like ours as we continue to develop and grow.With students having to be home-schooled during the Covid-19 crisis it’s essential they don’t miss out on the opportunities businesses like Drax would usually provide in creating positive experiences for them to support their studies.

The virtual tours we’ve created builds on the work we’ve already done to provide laptops and free internet access, to ensure no students are left behind during the lockdown.”

Over the last decade the power station’s world-class engineers have upgraded two thirds of its generating units to use biomass – sustainably sourced compressed wood pellets - in place of coal, transforming the plant to become the UK’s largest renewable power generator, producing enough electricity for four million homes.

Drax Group, the owner of the power station, recently announced a world-leading ambition to become carbon negative by 2030 through pioneering new negative emissions technology bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) at the site.

The first in the series of virtual online tours shows viewers how fuels are used to generate electricity, where Drax’s sustainable biomass comes from and how BECCS could be deployed to tackle climate change.