Drax, the UK's largest biomass power plant, is under investigation by the BBC for repeatedly failing to accurately report whether the wood it burns comes from primary forests. The power plant has received billions of pounds in subsidies from the UK government.
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02-11, 2025Drax power station burns wood pellets and must report the source of its wood, including whether it comes from primary, undisturbed forests. Last year, following an investigation by energy regulator Ofgem, the company was fined £25 million for misreporting data. The BBC has now uncovered a year of misreporting that has not been investigated by regulators.
The company has not denied the misreporting of its sustainability data but said it is "focused on learning lessons." Drax power station, located in North Yorkshire, was converted from a coal-fired power plant and generates approximately 6% of the UK's total electricity. Because burning wood is classified as a renewable energy source, the power plant has received billions of pounds in subsidies from the government and taxpayers.
The BBC's Panorama program and BBC News have previously reported that Drax holds logging licenses in British Columbia, Canada, and uses timber from primary and old-growth forests, including whole trees, to produce wood pellets. These primary forests have never been industrially logged, store vast amounts of carbon, and provide critical habitat for wildlife.
Drax states that it does not own forests or sawmills, no longer bids for logging licenses, and has stopped sourcing wood from certain locations in British Columbia where the company has asked the government to suspend further logging. However, public logging records show that despite Drax stating in its sustainability standards that the company will "avoid damage or disturbance to high carbon stock forests," and that "high carbon stock forests can be defined as primary forests," Drax still sources whole trees from primary forests logged by other companies in the province.
Data obtained by the BBC through environmental information requests shows that Drax failed to declare any timber from primary forests in its sustainability data submitted to regulators regarding its 2020-21 Canadian wood pellets. In that year, Drax burned just over 1.2 million tonnes of wood pellets from Canada, a significant portion of which came from primary forests in the interior of British Columbia.
Drax did not respond to the BBC's questions about why it misreported its sustainability data and whether it had misled the government and energy regulators about its use of timber from primary forests. Drax appears to have reduced its reliance on Canadian timber. The company said that in 2023, only about 2.5% of the wood pellets used by its power station came from British Columbia, mainly from public forests designated for harvesting.
Drax states that it "recognizes the importance of sustainably sourced biomass, and we strive to ensure our wood pellets are legally harvested and meet the strict sustainability requirements of the UK, US, and Canadian governments, as well as the EU." The UK's current sustainability standards for biomass do not prohibit the use of whole trees from primary forests for the production of wood pellets.
The company added that the misreporting previously identified by Ofgem was "technical in nature" and "did not affect the level of ROCs (subsidies) received." According to Ofgem, accurate sustainability data enables the government "to understand and monitor the extent to which virgin forests and saw logs are used in woody biomass, which has implications for carbon emissions and biodiversity."
Following last year's investigation and Drax's subsequent £25 million fine for misreporting data, regulator Ofgem said it "will not hesitate to take action" if further misconduct occurs. However, when contacted by the BBC, the regulator did not commit to taking any specific action regarding the further misreporting uncovered by the BBC.
An Ofgem spokesperson said in a statement: "We are grateful to the BBC for sharing this information, which relates to the same issues we found in our investigation into Drax." They added that Ofgem is requiring Drax "to undertake a comprehensive independent external audit of their global supply chain profiling data to give us confidence that appropriate processes and controls are in place for the future," adding, "If any further evidence is found following the audit, we will investigate again."
Drax's current renewable energy subsidy scheme is due to end in 2027, and the BBC's discovery of further misreporting of sustainability data by Drax comes as the government is expected to announce an extension of Drax's subsidies soon. The government said it is carefully considering amending current biomass sustainability standards and will publish an update soon, but did not confirm whether it would prevent the use of timber from primary forests for the production of wood pellets.
A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "The situation we inherited with large biomass generators is unacceptable. Ofgem has required a further audit, and they are working closely with Drax to ensure that any misreporting does not happen again."
