Time to end the biomass scam: Drax, Britain's largest carbon emitter, received £1bn in subsidies last year - £2.7m a day and more than £100k an hour, which we all pay for

By CLAIRE ELLICOTT, WHITEHALL EDITOR Published: 00:01, 16 April 2026 | Updated: 00:03, 16 April 2026 Households handed over a record amount of nearly £1bn in public subsidies to Drax last year, the UK's largest carbon emitter, analysis shows. The controversial biomass power station receives 'overly generous' payments of £2.7million a day and more than £100,000 an hour, energy think tank Ember found. It has been the UK's biggest emitter for the past ten years and – despite its subsidies falling from next year – is expected to remain the biggest emitter until at least 2030. Drax received a record £999million in Government subsidies – paid for through consumer bills – last year despite claims that it uses wood from virgin forests. Incredibly, the energy is classed as renewable because the wood pellets it uses are from forests where trees are cut down and new trees are planted. In April 2026, Drax power station entered the final twelve months of high subsidy payments under the current scheme, the think tank said. From 2027, the subsidy available will be roughly halved to around £460million per year, beginning its phase-out, energy think tank Ember said. However, the scale of biomass burning all but guarantees Drax will continue to be the UK's largest emitter until the end of the decade, it added. Ofgem found Drax did fail to properly record data about wood imported 'Nearly £1 billion for woody biomass burning is an astonishing high-water mark for public subsidies – and a problematic one as prices soar,' report author Frankie Mayo said. 'While it's a relief these overly generous payments will halve from 2027, British taxpayers should never have been in this position in the first place.' The think tank found that public subsidies in 2025 were £130million higher compared with 2024, an increase of 15per cent. While this was partly due to increased energy generation, it was largely due to the rising value of payments under subsidy schemes. The increased value means that every household in the country contributed £13 a year to Drax after Energy Secretary Ed Miliband extended the company's contract. However, from 2027, a new subsidy scheme should mean Drax receiving half of the current amount of subsidies. This will then run up to four years before ending at the beginning of 2031. But the report stated: 'While a 50per cent cut in subsidised biomass burning at Drax power station will deliver cost savings for consumers, emissions will likely remain higher than any other industrial site or power station in the country, cementing Drax's status as the UK's largest producer of carbon emissions.' Ember also said that the long-term future of the company was in question as Drax had signalled that it may not be able to deliver a promised carbon capture scheme. Following a probe by Ofgem in 2024, Drax paid £25million for what were described as 'inadvertent and technical' breaches of rules about disclosing where its wood came from. The investigation came after the company was accused of burning wood from unsustainable sources and taking timber from precious rare forests in Canada. Despite concerns, Mr Miliband announced new taxpayer subsidies for the North Yorkshire plant which generates around five per cent of the UK's electricity.  A Drax spokesman said: 'In 2025, Drax Power Station generated a record 15.0TWh of renewable power using biomass, keeping the lights on for millions of homes and businesses, no matter the weather. 'The support arrangements for our biomass generation are not unique and are similar to those in place for other types of generators, we are paid under these mechanisms for the power we produce. 'The period covered by the new low-carbon CfD alone could see the continued operation of Drax Power Station deliver a net saving for consumers of up to £3.1bn, compared to other sources of dispatchable generation. 'Replacing the 2.6GW of secure dispatchable power capacity Drax Power Station offers in the long-term would require billions in capital investment in building new nuclear or gas capacity.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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