Energy giant investigated over wood sourcing after whistleblower claims

Energy elephantine Drax is being investigated by Britain's fiscal watchdog astir wherever it gets the wood from that it burns to make electricity.

It follows accusations by a erstwhile Drax insider successful March that the institution had misled implicit its sourcing of wood for biomass pellets.

The London-listed institution denied those claims. It said it would "co-operate with the FCA arsenic portion of their investigation" connected Thursday.

Drax, which utilized to pain ember astatine its Yorkshire powerfulness station, present receives multimillion-pound subsidies from vigor bill-payers to pain woody biomass pellets.

The UK authorities supported this power arsenic a mode to cleanable up powerfulness supplies, and classed the resulting bioenergy arsenic renewable.

But that presumption and the tremendous subsidies person been disputed by campaigners and immoderate scientists who fearfulness bioenergy is little greenish than thought, based connected its interaction connected forests and the years needed for its emissions to beryllium offset.

Sky News was the archetypal to uncover successful 2021 that Drax's Selby powerfulness presumption is Britain's largest azygous root of emissions.

But the presumption provides 5% of Britain's energy and has the vantage of being highly flexible: it tin easy beryllium turned up, down oregon disconnected to lucifer demand, a feat that eludes wind, star and atomic power.

Shares successful the FTSE 250 steadfast fell much than 12% connected Thursday morning.

The radical said the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) probe covers its biomass sourcing statements from January 2022 to March 2024.

It volition besides measure the compliance of Drax's yearly reports from 2021-2023 with fiscal disclosure and transparency rules.

The regulator said: "We tin corroborate that the FCA has opened an probe into Drax Group."

Its probe intensifies scrutiny implicit Drax, which past twelvemonth paid a £25m punishment implicit misreported biomass data, peculiarly concerning sourcing from Canadian forests.

Then successful March, Drax's erstwhile caput of nationalist affairs and policy, Rowaa Ahmar, suggested the institution had misled implicit its sourcing of wood for biomass pellets, which were made arsenic portion of a assertion for unfair dismissal astatine an employment tribunal. Drax denied the claims.

The 2 rapidly reached a settlement.

Weeks earlier, the authorities confirmed it would extend subsidies for Drax's "important" bioenergy, but halve the magnitude paid and see a windfall mechanics to recoup immoderate of the profits.

Frankie Mayo, vigor expert astatine thinktank Ember, said it's "right that the UK's largest emitter faces further scrutiny", fixed its cost, biology interaction and dependence connected wood merchandise imports.