The business is best known for its power plant in Selby, North Yorkshire, which now runs on biomass in the form of wood pellets, having been converted from coal.
The UK Government recently confirmed that it will halve the level of subsidies paid to Drax for the operation of this facility from 2027. This contract is contingent on Drax at least halving its hours of generation and procuring 100% of its wood pellets from sources that are certified as sustainable, up from around 70% at present.
Now, Drax has published a sweeping new sustainability framework with updated targets on emissions, climate adaptation, nature and social sustainability.
The framework stipulates that Drax will report its nature-related impacts, dependencies and risks in line with the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework by the end of 2026. In doing so, it has joined more than 500 other organisations worldwide.
Drax will further develop a science-based target for nature, in line with the Science Based Targets Network’s framework, by the end of 2027. Such targets are in their relative infancy, having been adopted by the first three companies late last year.
Location-specific ‘Nature-Positive Action Plans’ will be developed for all priority biomass sourcing regions by the end of 2030. These region-specific plans will be developed using TNFD guidance.
Digital data collection processes will be implemented by the end of 2026 to collect and analyse more detailed information about the company’s wood supply chain. Drax aims to prove that its supply chains after free from deforestation, degradation and conversion.
Drax came under fire from the BBC earlier this month; investigations for the Panorama programme found that Drax sourced whole trees from primary forests in British Colombia, Canada in financial year 2020-21 despite a commitment not to do so. BBC also allege that Drax did not disclose this information to UK energy regulator Ofgem, as it is supposed to.
The findings come after proven misreporting on wood sourcing in the 2023-24 financial year, when Drax agreed to pay a £25m fine.
Net-zero ambitions
The framework further commits Drax to achieving net-zero carbon emissions across its value chain by the end of 2040.
The business has already set verified science-based emissions targets for 2030 against a 2020 baseline. These entail reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions from electricity generation by 75.7% on an intensity basis; reducing Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from sold electricity by 75.7% on an intensity basis, and reducing absolute Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from all other sources by 42%.
Drax has stated that its 2040 net-zero target is “in active review” with the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Drax had, in 2019, outlined an ambition to deliver a ‘negative emissions’ power station by adding carbon capture at Selby. However, project delivery was slowed amid the pandemic and then successive changes in UK Prime Ministers. Drax was granted permission from the UK Government to fit carbon capture to two units at Selby last month.
As a priority, Drax is evaluating a forest carbon appraisal methodology for evaluating the impact of biomass demand on carbon stocks in its sourcing regions. It aims to have evaluated regional forest carbon stocks by the end of 2026.
Drax Group’s chief sustainability officer Miguel Veiga-Pestana said the new framework “signals a significant change in the way Drax manages its impact on the environment, communities and nature”.
He added: “This launch is not the end of the process, however, it is just the start. In the coming months and years, the climate crisis will become more acute. The need for action will become greater, and the role of carbon removals will become even more important. That means we will have to work even harder to aim to ensure our operations help reduce humanity’s impact on the planet.”
The framework stipulates that Drax will publish and implement a climate adaptation plan covering its operations and value chain by the end of 2027.
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