The banner on the silo at the Port of Hull measures 29 metres by eight metres (image courtesy of ABP/David Lee Photography
Motorists heading west along Hedon Road towards the city centre in Hull now have a new landmark to look out for as Associated British Ports (ABP) has unveiled what is rumoured to be Hull’s biggest billboard.
The banner, which measures 29 metres by eight metres, has been hung on the eastern side of ABP’s rail load-out facility, a purpose-built silo which is used to store biomass and fill wagons bound for Drax with the sustainable wood pellets for electricity generation.
The banner is emblazoned with electricity pylons and the strapline ‘Powering the Nation’, as well as ABP’s logo and slogan ‘Keeping Britain Trading’.
ABP Director Humber, John Fitzgerald said: “We wanted to celebrate Hull’s vital role in keeping the nation’s lights on and a banner provided us with the opportunity to do something eye-catching with this dominating structure.
“This is first installation and we’ll look to develop the idea. 2017 City of Culture also gives us an opportunity to be creative with a number of structures on the port.”
The silo was built at a cost of £25 million and was officially opened last December. The facility forms part of a £130 million Humber-wide agreement with Drax Power Ltd to supply the company with up to six million tonnes of biomass per year as part of its conversion to low-carbon electricity generation.
Last year Drax produced 7.9TWh of renewable electricity and was the largest decarbonisation project in Europe.
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Notes to editors:
ABP is the UK’s leading ports operator with 21 ports and other transport related businesses creating a unique national network capable of handling a vast array of cargo.
Around one quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade passes through ABP’s Statutory Harbour Areas. ABP contributes £5.6 billion to the UK economy every year and supports 84, 000 jobs. Our current investment programme promises to deliver an extra £1.75 billion for the economy every year.
ABP…
- Handled over 1.5 million vehicles in 2013.
- Generates around one quarter of the UK’s rail freight
- Has 1.4 million square metres of covered storage
- Has 1000 hectares of open storage
- Handled 119m tonnes of cargo in 2013
- Owns 5000 hectares of port estate
- Has 87km of quay
Over the next five years, ABP is investing over £650 million in a wide range of major projects across the group.
ABP Humber
The four ports of Grimsby, Immingham, Hull and Goole handle more than 65 million tonnes of cargo between them each year.
Grimsby and Immingham form the UK’s busiest trading gateway and move around 54 million tonnes of cargo per annum.
£75 million is currently being invested in the biomass handling terminal in Immingham, in a Humber-wide agreement with Drax Power Ltd that has seen £25 million invested in a biomass handling facility in Hull. The Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal will handle sustainable biomass shipments and will create over 100 permanent jobs once complete. The construction phase has also created 100 employment opportunities.
The Port of Hull handles 10 million tonnes of cargo per annum and is the is the focal point for the development of the UK’s largest offshore wind turbine construction, assembly, and service facility, which will be located on the Port’s Alexandra Dock. This new facility, coupled with a new rotor blade manufacturing base near Paull to the east of the port estate, represents a £310 million investment and could create up to 1000 direct jobs.
The Grimsby River Terminal represents an investment of £26 million and allows large car-carrying ships to berth outside the Port’s lock system. This development confirms the Port’s position as the UK’s leading automotive handling facility.
More than the equivalent of 1million teus (twenty foot equivalent unit) of unitised trade is shipped through ABP Humber ports.
Ro-ro and container traffic represents more than 30 sailings a week to Europe, Scandinavia the Baltic and beyond.
The Humber ports handle more than 70 freight train movements per day.
Goole is situated 50 miles upriver and is the UK’s premier inland port. It handles over two million tonnes of cargo annually.
