The organisation’s Energy team serves as a key supply chain partner for North Yorkshire-based energy company Drax and Lynemouth Power Station on the Northumberland coast, and has been supporting critical power generation services for both energy suppliers, helping them to remain fully operational.
SOCOTEC provides shipping services for Lynemouth Power Station’s biomass imports as they arrive at the Port of Tyne handling facility. The Energy team is responsible for the provision of ship superintendents, who monitor the discharge of the vessels, report on the cargo quality and provide draft surveys. Analysis is carried out at the port and across all biomass products, with samples collected and processed in SOCOTEC’s portside and in-house laboratories.
Similarly, SOCOTEC is responsible for the provision of shipping services, sampling and preparing samples of sustainable biomass on behalf of Drax. Superintendents are on hand to meet every ship at ports in Liverpool, Tyne, Immingham and Hull, determining the quality and quantity of each vessel, cargo or shipment and checking for any tramp material that may be trapped within the cargo. Sizing is carried out in dedicated quayside laboratories during discharge, before being transported to Drax’s preparation laboratories for the Drax team to carry out preparation and physical analysis. Samples are then dispatched to SOCOTEC’s Burton upon Trent facility for further chemical analysis.
Furthermore, the Energy team also inspects port infrastructure and receives storage facilities for Drax, as well as managing fuel, oil and gas tank levels to support stock control and order/analyse the deliveries of these products. Additional support is provided by the organisation’s Oils team.
In order to comply fully with social distancing guidelines, SOCOTEC staff working on behalf of Drax and Lynemouth Power Station have been working shifts in small groups to minimise contact, with handovers provided to superintendents every 12 hours. Draft survey techniques have been modified to limit the time workers spend on board ships, while office spaces and common use items, such as keyboards, are cleaned prior to the staff changeover. At the power stations, samplers confirm collections with control room staff from the safety of their vehicles, while collection drivers have been isolated from SOCOTEC’s preparation facilities and laboratories since the beginning of March.
James MacFarlane, managing director for Laboratory & Analytical Services at SOCOTEC UK, says: “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has only served to strengthen our long-term relationships with Drax and Lynemouth Power Station, and our Energy team is committed to ensuring that both clients continue to provide critical power generation services during this period of uncertainty.
“We would like to thank both Drax and Lynemouth Power Station for their continued support throughout this unprecedented time, as well as extend our appreciation to our hardworking staff, who continue to adhere to strict social distancing measures, all while helping to keep our country’s power generation services running smoothly.”