End benefits to polluter Drax, say campaigners

There are growing calls within the Labour Party to block Drax benefits after the ‘green’ energy company was fined for air pollution in Mississippi.

Drax, which has received more than £6bn in subsidies for its North Yorkshire power station, is currently awaiting a decision from ministers on whether to extend the subsidies beyond 2027.

One campaigner called it “ridiculous” that the government is even considering the move, given the FTSE 250 company’s environmental record.

The latest tantrum came after Drax was fined more than £170,000 by regulators in Mississippi earlier this month for “repeated presence of hazardous air pollutants”.

The group’s Mississippi plant produces wood pellets from trees grown in southern states, which are then burned as fuel at Drax’s power station in Selby, North Yorkshire. But the plant has previously come under fire for breaching air pollution rules in 2020, when Drax was fined £1.9m.

US campaign group Dogwood Alliance has now taken aim at the UK government for its approach. ‘The fact that the UK government is even considering more subsidies for Drax is ridiculous.

“Since the company began operations in the American South a decade ago, it has done nothing but destroy forests, pollute communities and pollute the atmosphere,” a spokesperson said.

“Labour must stop this madness and stop wasting taxpayers’ money on this dirty, destructive industry,” he added.

And Almuth Ernsting, of the campaign group Biofuelwatch, said it would be “unreasonable” for ministers to approve further subsidies for Drax.

Last week the government insisted that no decision had yet been made.

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero told the Mail: ‘We expect full compliance with all legal obligations relating to biomass. Subsidies for large-scale biomass generators end in 2027 and we are reviewing evidence on possible support thereafter.’

Drax posted a profit of £515m for the six months to the end of June, up from £417m in the first half of last year.