5% of Great Britain's electricity from its biomass plant, analysts at Ember reported. 7m a day from energy bills partly due to a 2% increase in power generation but mostly from rising payouts under a legacy renewables support scheme. 7bn in renewable energy subsidies.
Campaigners and scientists argue the wood pellets burned at Drax's plant are not sourced sustainably and may increase carbon emissions, while Drax claims its Canadian subsidiary uses only low-value waste wood from sustainably managed forests. Forestry experts believed Drax was burning 250-year-old trees from some of Canada's oldest forests as recently as last summer, with concerns first raised in 2022, which Drax publicly denied at the time. Court documents revealed senior staff had raised internal concerns over the company's statements, disclosed when Drax's former chief lobbyist took the company to court alleging dismissal after saying the company was misleading stakeholders.
misleading the public, government and its regulator
Drax agreed a settlement with the employee last year, stating it reached a mutually agreeable position without admission of liability. A cross-party group of 14 MPs and peers called on Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to halt subsidies while the financial watchdog investigates Drax's historical statements, but Drax said Ofgem found no evidence of deliberate misreporting. Ofgem's 16-month investigation found an absence of adequate data governance and controls, and Drax agreed to pay £25m in compensation for the breach.
The government has halved subsidies available to Drax under a new contract running from next year until 2031, promising the plant will provide power only when it is really needed. Under the new contract, the power plant will have to switch to using woody biomass from unspecified sources.
a mutually agreeable position, without admission of liability