Drax

Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

We did that because the conclusion of a contract for 2027-31 ensures that Drax continues to produce a very large amount of energy, which is very important for the country; that it does so under enhanced sustainability requirements; and that it moves from being a baseline producer to a dispatchable producer, with a top level of 27% of output within that contract. There is also the implied understanding that the contract will pave the way towards moving to CCS on the back of the contract, making Drax a net-negative producer in the long term.

[Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist (Con)]

My Lords, in 2021, Drax was axed from the S&P green bond index over doubts that its practices were carbon neutral. That decision seemed to be endorsed by that famous “Panorama” programme. I bow to the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Moulsecoomb, for her detailed knowledge of forestry, but it appears that Drax has been importing wood pellets from old-growth forests, even before accounting for the emissions caused by transporting the biomass here from abroad. Given that this is patently not a green company, does the Minister agree that the subsidies for 27% of Drax’s generation capacity are unwarranted and should be withdrawn? Further, if Drax is found to be non-compliant and closes down, does he also agree that the land and extensive grid connections could be better used in the Government’s SMR programme?

[Lord Whitehead (Lab)]

No, I do not agree that the various connections relating to Drax could be better used for an SMR programme, because of the particular location of Drax within the cluster in the north-east of the country, which is particularly important for carbon capture and storage, and, indeed, hydrogen. Drax plays a part in that process in that area. The noble Baroness perhaps ought to read the report that is before us very carefully, because it does not actually say that Drax has sourced old-forest timber. Timber is sourced from third parties, goes into the Drax pellet facility, and may or may not to Drax’s knowledge include old-forest material—which, by the way, is outlawed by the Government of British Columbia. There are a number of questions to answer, but not necessarily for Drax. There are a number of people who perhaps have questions to answer as well.