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UK power firm to pay �25 mn over inaccurate data on wood
London, Aug 29 (AFP) Aug 29, 2024
British electricity generation firm Drax has agreed to pay pound25 million ($33 million) for reporting inaccurate data on the wood it burns in its power plant, the UK's energy regulator Ofgem said Thursday.

Ofgem opened an investigation in May 2023 over Drax's claims that the wood it uses to generate electricity is renewable.

"Drax has accepted that it had weak procedures, controls and governance which resulted in inaccurate reporting of data," Ofgem Chief Executive Jonathan Brearley said in a statement.

The fine will be paid to Ofgem's compensation fund. The probe focused on subsidies intended to encourage renewable energy generation in Britain.

Ofgem said its investigation found no evidence that Drax was not meeting the requirement that at least 70 percent of biomass come from sustainable sources in order to receive subsidies.

But it said Drax was unable to explain how its "annual profiling submission had been arrived at and unable to support the reliability of its profiling data reporting of forestry type and sawlogs for Canadian consignments."

Drax's chief executive Will Gardiner said "we remain confident in the robust systems we have in place to demonstrate that the biomass we use at Drax Power Station (in North Yorkshire) meets the strict sustainability criteria set out in UK law."

The probe into Drax came after a BBC documentary said the group was logging ancestral Canadian forests. Drax insists the wood it burns is durable and sourced legally.

Drax shares were down 0.9 percent at 649.50 pence on the London Stock Exchange.


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DRAX GROUP

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE GROUP PLC





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