The regulator did not find any evidence that the biomass did not meet sustainability requirements. Credit: Christopher Furlong via Getty Images.

The UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, announced on Thursday (29 August) that renewable energy generator Drax Power will pay £25m for misreporting data regarding imported biomass from Canada.  

In May 2023, Ofgem launched an investigation into whether Drax was in breach of annual profiling reporting requirements aligning with the Renewables Obligations (RO) scheme and other related matters. 

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Ofgem concluded on Thursday that the company did not have adequate data governance controls on the biomass imported from Canada between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.  

The regulator did not find any evidence that the biomass did not meet sustainability requirements.  

Jonathan Brearley, Ofgem Chief Executive, said: “This has been a complex and detailed investigation. Energy consumers expect all companies, particularly those receiving millions of pounds annually in public subsidies, to comply with all their statutory requirements.  

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“There are no excuses for Drax’s admission that it did not comply with its mandatory requirement to give Ofgem accurate and robust data on the exact types of Canadian wood it utilises. The legislation is clear about Drax’s obligations – that is why we took tough action.” 

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Drax contributed to the investigation appropriately and has accepted its conclusion.  

The UK-based company will make the payment towards Ofgem’s voluntary redress fund, which will be used to help charities support vulnerable energy customers. 

The company added that it would resubmit the data for its Canadian biomass imports and carry out an independent audit into its biomass profiling data for the most recent reporting period (April 2023 to March 2024).  

Drax CEO Will Gardiner said in a separate statement: “We recognise the importance of maintaining a strong evidence base and are continuing to invest to improve confidence in our future reporting.” 

Drax is the UK’s largest renewable energy generator by output and has converted four coal-power units to use biomass and operate hydropower projects.