Drax sustainability score: 32/100
Better than 24% of Energy Supply / Utilities
Making progress starts at 46. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Drax generates electricity in the UK from biomass, pumped storage, hydro and gas turbine plants, makes wood pellets in North America, and supplies electricity to UK business customers. In 2025 its external sales were £2,633.3 million from supplying business customers, £2,314.7 million from biomass generation, £329.3 million from pellet production and £78.1 million from flexible generation.
More about Drax
Drax Group plc was incorporated in 2005. It had 2,974 employees at year end and £5,390.7 million total revenue in 2025.
Founded 2005Head office Selby, United KingdomStaff ~2,974 year-end (31 December 2025)Revenue ~£5.39B total revenue (£5,390.7M, year to 31 December 2025)Website ↗
Drax's footprint was 16,262,000 tCO2e in 2025. That includes 14,085 kt of CO2 from burning wood pellets, which Drax reports outside its scopes, plus Scope 1 of 301 kt, Scope 2 of 372 kt (market-based) and Scope 3 of 1,504 kt. Scope 1, Scope 2 and stack CO2 rose on 2024; only Scope 3 fell. Its SBTi-validated 2030 generation target is intensity-based: 75.7% less CO2 per MWh than in 2020. In 2024 it paid £25m to Ofgem's redress fund over misreported Canadian biomass data, and settled air pollution violations at a Mississippi pellet plant with the state regulator. BBC and CBC investigations documented old-growth logging in British Columbia; an FCA investigation is pending.
Drax scores 32/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified November 2026.
That places Drax joint 675th of 1,043 companies scored, and 17th of 22 in Energy Supply / Utilities.
What is Drax doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (1/10, 2/10).
Where Drax lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow its emissions are falling.
- Its effect on natureAssess its effect on nature and publish a basic environmental policy.
- How clean its energy isMove to a renewable energy tariff or make a major efficiency investment.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain7/10No full value-chain map or supplier engagement programme.
- Whether its emissions are falling1/10No evidence its emissions are falling.
- How clean its energy is3/10No renewable energy tariff or major efficiency investment shown.
- Its effect on nature2/10No assessment of its effect on nature, and no basic environmental policy.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets6/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies3/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Drax's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Drax's score based on?
17 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
12% of them were published by Drax itself; the rest come from independent sources.
This score includes the 14,085 kt of CO2 from burning biomass at Drax's power stations in 2025. Drax reports it outside Scopes 1, 2 and 3, as the GHG Protocol allows. We count it because the atmosphere receives it, so the footprint is 16,262,000 t and the size deduction for that footprint applies.
15 of 17 sources are independent of the company.
“Group total Scope 1 ktCO e 301 266”
“Drax emitted 14.1 million tonnes of CO2e last year, a 1% increase from the previous year.”
“We will publish our first fully aligned Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)”
“Drax is submitting a payment to Ofgem’s Energy Industry Voluntary Redress Fund in the amount of £25m.”
“process pulverised fuel ash into a material which can be sold to the construction industry”
“In response to the latest findings by the BBC, Drax admitted it has taken wood from old-growth forests.”
“massive numbers of logs — which come from trees, which come from forests — are being trucked to mills in B.C. owned by Drax”
“The programme found the company involved with logging Canadian virgin forests, producing biomass from old, slow-growing trees.”
“In 2023, Drax was again found to be in violation of its air permit.”
“Drax commissioned KPMG to conduct a fact-finding mission into Panorama's allegations, which found that Drax had misreported data to the regulator”
“The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) confirmed it is reviewing Drax’s annual reports for 2021 to 2023 to check compliance with disclosure rules.”
“Drax has agreed to pay MDEQ a civil penalty of $225,000, with $150,000 of that amount paid directly to MDEQ.”
“was fined £25 m ($33.77 million) by Ofgem for misreporting data on wood sourced from forests in Canada”
“In 2024, the UK’s energy regulator, Ofgem, fined the company £25m (US$31m) after a 15-month investigation found inaccuracies in its biomass reporting.”
“The power station operator Drax is applying intense pressure across government departments to influence energy policy in its favour, DeSmog can reveal.”
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How does Drax compare with other energy supply / utilities companies?
Where Drax sits among energy supply / utilities peers.
Among the 22 major energy supply / utilities brands we've scored, Drax sits 17th of 22.
Who scores higher in Energy Supply / Utilities?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Drax.
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