WBaug20pgs_cs.qxp_Wood Bioenergy Magazine 7/13/20 12:41 PM Page 14
■ matt white q&a
New Drax Biomass Leader
Matt White EDITOR’S NOTE: Matt White was named Senior Vice President of Drax Biomass on January 6, 2020, coming from a chemical and logistics provider to the oil industry where he was director, Manufacturing & Engineering. The bulk of White’s career has been in manufacturing management, helping organizations to grow, adapt to change and increase safety and efficiency by developing high-performing teams. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Wood Bioenergy posed a few questions to White as he settles into his leadership role over Drax Biomass operations in the U.S., based in Monroe, La. Drax Senior VP Matt White Wood Bioenergy: To say that you’ve encountered challenges you didn’t anticipate upon being named Senior VP for Drax Biomass would be a great understatement. Can you address how Drax Biomass reacted to the pandemic initially and how things have progressed? Matt: In a crisis, people come first. The safety and well-being of our employees is critically important at all times, not just through the pandemic, and the team has been very successful and diligent in working together to promote a safe working environment. We have processes in place to ensure people are working safely and socially distancing when they’re at any of our facilities so as not to spread the virus and we’re in contact with our partners throughout our supply chains to ensure they’re doing the same. Some of the measures we implemented during the pandemic include restricted travel between different sites, separation of shift workers, social distancing and other provisions across the pellet mills, offices and other infrastructure. Drax’s dedicated biomass export facility at the port of Greater Baton Rouge on the Mis-
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sissippi River in Louisiana is highly restricted and tight controls continue. We’re also in regular contact with local, state and federal authorities to ensure that sustainable biomass supplies continue to flow. Highlighting the resilience of our supply chain during the pandemic, we loaded our 100th cargo of sustainable biomass at our Baton Rouge port facility for delivery to Drax Power Station in the U.K., where it helped keep the lights on for millions of U.K. homes and businesses. WB: How do you feel the industrial wood pellet industry is faring during the virus crisis?
Matt: Our business has been very resilient during this time. This has helped support Drax Group’s robust global biomass supply chain as it continues to deliver the fuel the U.K.’s largest power station needs to produce 12% of the country’s renewable electricity—enough to supply up to 4 million households. WB: Coming in, what were/are some of your goals for Drax Biomass? Matt: The safety and well-being of our employees and our communities is always our first priority across the company as we work to grow our business while reducing costs. Drax Group aims to increase sustainable biomass production capacity to 5 million tonnes a year from 1.5 million tonnes now and cut costs by a third by 2027. Here at Drax Biomass we have a number of projects and initiatives either completed or underway to help achieve that. These include the new rail spur at our LaSalle pellet plant in Louisiana and the co-location of a sawmill at LaSalle—both of which have already helped reduce emissions and costs over the past year. In terms of in-
Wood Bioenergy / August 2020
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