The owner of Britain’s largest renewable power station is under scrutiny after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched an investigation into its biomass practices.
Drax Group shares dropped as much as 12.4% in early London trading on Thursday after the company confirmed the watchdog is examining “certain historical statements regarding Drax’s biomass sourcing” made between January 2022 and March 2024, along with its annual reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The probe follows mounting criticism of Drax’s reliance on wood pellets at its North Yorkshire power station. The company has benefited from billions of pounds in taxpayer subsidies to support its biomass operations, but environmental groups have long questioned its green credentials, accusing it of greenwashing.
Drax said it is cooperating fully with the FCA’s inquiry.
While biomass is officially classed as renewable, critics argue it generates significant immediate carbon emissions and can contribute to deforestation.
Drax has faced repeated accusations of sourcing wood from intact forests in North America to fuel its North Yorkshire plant. The company maintains that all wood is sourced sustainably and in line with environmental standards.
The FCA investigation follows the dismissal of Rowaa Ahmar, a former employee who alleged she was sacked after raising concerns about greenwashing. Ms Ahmar joined Drax in 2022, the same year a BBC Panorama documentary claimed the company was burning wood from healthy Canadian forests rather than waste material.
She told an employment tribunal in London that senior figures at Drax had sought to cover up the use of unsustainable wood. In response to the Panorama broadcast, Drax commissioned KPMG to conduct an independent review of its sourcing practices.
The tribunal was told that Ms Ahmar had been instructed not to share with senior managers the interim findings of a report, which her lawyers allege revealed that Drax had used unsustainable wood and misreported data to the energy regulator Ofgem.
Despite this, she later raised her concerns with Brett Gladden, the company secretary, and on multiple occasions escalated the matter to senior managers, including claims of an internal cover-up.
She further accused Drax of providing inaccurate information to the Government, Ofgem, and the public. In March, she reached a settlement with the FTSE 250 energy company over her employment tribunal claim.
