THE massive Drax power station, near Selby, will soon receive its first delivery of home-farmed fuel.

The plant is to now burn wood along with coal, and harvesting of 160 tonnes of short-rotation willow coppice was to begin today.

The operation is at the Easingwold-area farm of NFU president Sir Ben Bill.

The work will be carried out using an 18-tonne machine from Australia, originally designed to harvest sugar cane. It can tackle up to 25 acres a day, converting the coppice into bite-chunks for the biomass market.

"Bio-energy is here to stay and it is accepted that the country cannot rely totally on wind power," said Mr Gill. "We are learning rapidly and gaining the expertise, partnership networks and capacity we need to make a success of short-rotation coppicing.

"I've heard it said that there is the potential for 1m acres of willow coppice in the UK and, if that comes to fruition, this country will be up there, challenging some of the major players in the market.

"With business now starting to take off, it's vital that farmers across Yorkshire and the north-east seize on these opportunities to ensure that it's UK businesses that benefit."

Updated: 09:55 Monday, December 22, 2003