THE massive Drax power station in Yorkshire will soon take delivery of its first consignment of home grown bio-fuel.

It will be made up of more than 160 tonnes of short rotation willow coppice, harvested from the farm of NFU president, Sir Ben Gill.

The harvest was due to take place just before Christmas and was the culmination of seven years' commitment to the region's fledgling bio-energy industry, which was initially spurred on by the prospect of contracts from the Arbre bio-energy plant at Eggborough, near Selby.

The five-acre plantation at Hawkhills, Easingwold, was one of the first in the country to be planted and was first harvested in 2000. Its second harvest is considered a real milestone as it is one of the first nationally to reach this stage and yields are expected to increase by at least 50pc.

The harvest was to be carried out with a huge 18-tonne machine brought from Australia. Originally designed to harvest sugar cane, it can tackle up to 25 acres a day, converting the willow into the bite-size chunks the biomass energy market needs.

At the forefront of developments in the industry is a newly-formed co-operative, Renewable Energy Growers, which, with 45 members, represents 85pc of England's commercial willow growers.

Sir Ben is a founder member, but other leading farming families in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire have joined.

The chairman is Russell Toothill, who grows 280 acres of willow on his farm at Aukley, near Doncaster. He reports that business is now really starting to take off, thanks partly to the orders for willow to burn with coal in the new co-firing element at Drax and partly to the Government's policy of using grants and tax incentives to promote the move towards more sustainable and renewable energy sources.

"Power station contracts are vital to provide the initial incentive for growers, but the domestic market offers the most exciting and potentially lucrative opportunities," said Mr Toothill. "We are especially optimistic about the future of combined heat and power plants as well as district heating schemes for housing developments."

The arrival of the £70,000 harvesting machine heralds a new stage of development and, according to Sir Ben, it cannot come too soon.

"We are learning rapidly and gaining the expertise, partnership networks and capacity we need to make a success of short rotation coppicing," he said.

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

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

* SembCorp Utilities Tees-side has appointed Tony Beadle to lead fuel procurement in connection with its plan to build a 30MW biomass-fuelled power unit at Wilton.

Mr Beadle of Urban Harvest, will work on an exclusive basis for SembCorp.

Secure supply contracts will be available, and start-up is planned for autumn 2006.

SembCorp has also appointed Fichtner Consulting Engineers of Stockport as "owner's engineer", working primarily on the boiler and fuel handling design and procurement