Stop handouts to polluter Drax, say campaigners
- Drax has been given more than £6bn of subsidies
- It is currently waiting for ministers to decide whether to extend subsidies
- Drax fined more than £170,000 by Mississippi regulators
Labour is facing growing calls to block handouts for Drax after the ‘green’ energy firm was hit with an air pollution fine in Mississippi.
Drax – which has been given more than £6billion of subsidies for its power station in North Yorkshire – is currently waiting for ministers to decide whether to extend subsidies beyond 2027.
One campaigner said it is ‘ludicrous’ that the Government is even considering the move given the FTSE 250 company’s environmental record.
The latest fury comes after Drax was fined more than £170,000 by Mississippi regulators earlier this month for ‘repeated instances of hazardous air pollutants’.
The group’s facility in Mississippi produces wood pellets from trees sourced from southern states, which are then burned as fuel in Drax’s power station in Selby, North Yorkshire. But the plant has previously come under fire, breaching air pollution rules in 2020 when Drax was slapped with a £1.9m fine.
Handouts: Drax has been given more than £6billion of subsidies
The US campaign group Dogwood Alliance has now taken aim at the British Government for its approach. ‘The fact that the UK Government is even considering more subsidies for Drax is ludicrous.
The company has done nothing but destroy forests, pollute communities and the atmosphere in the southern US since it began operations here ten years ago,’ a spokesman said.
‘Labour needs to stop this madness and stop wasting taxpayer money on this dirty, destructive industry,’ he added.
And Almuth Ernsting, from the campaign group Biofuelwatch, said it would be ‘unconscionable’ for ministers to approve more grants for Drax.
Last week the Government insisted that no decision had been made.
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman told the Mail: ‘We expect full compliance with all regulatory obligations on biomass. The subsidies for large-scale biomass generators will end in 2027 and we are reviewing evidence on potential support beyond this.’
Drax posted profits of £515m for the six months to the end of June, up from £417m in the first half of last year.
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