Drax has agreed to pay £25 million and enhance its data reporting practices following Ofgem’s identification of compliance issues under the Renewables Obligations scheme.
Ofgem has determined that Drax Power Limited lacked sufficient data governance and controls, resulting in inaccuracies in its annual profiling submission for the compliance period from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2022.
In particular, Drax misreported data concerning forestry type and sawlog proportions for Canadian consignments and was unable to provide adequate evidence to verify the accuracy of its data reporting.
In light of these findings, Drax has accepted the conclusions of the investigation and agreed to pay £25 million to Ofgem’s Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund.
The company will re-submit its profiling data for the 2021-2022 compliance period and has revised its data reporting policies and procedures.
Drax will also arrange for an independent audit of its international supply chain data for the compliance period from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024.
Ofgem will supervise this audit to ensure the accuracy of future reporting, and the audit’s findings will be made public.
Ofgem confirmed that there is no evidence indicating Drax incorrectly received Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) or failed to meet sustainability standards for biomass sourcing.