Drax Group generated more renewable power than ever before in 2025, the company has announced, as it outlined ambitious plans to invest in battery storage and a potential large-scale data centre at its North Yorkshire site.
The biomass and flexible generation giant produced 15.0TWh of renewable electricity last year, equivalent to 6% of UK power output and 11% of all UK renewables, while its North American pellet production operations also hit a record 4.2 million tonnes, a 5% increase on 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA came in at £947 million for the twelve months to 31 December 2025, down from £1.064 billion the previous year, with the reduction driven largely by lower achieved power prices and a £378 million non-cash impairment charge.
Operating profit fell to £241 million from £850 million. Adjusted earnings per share rose to 137.7p from 128.4p, supported by the group's share buyback programme.
Chief executive Will Gardiner said the signing of a new low carbon dispatchable Contract for Difference represented "an inflection point for the group", providing the foundation for continued flexible renewable generation this decade and beyond.
Drax is targeting post-2027 adjusted EBITDA of £600-700 million per year from its core pellet production, biomass generation and flexible generation businesses, alongside approximately £3 billion of free cash flow from existing operations between 2025 and 2031.
The group has committed around £500 million to 710MW of battery energy storage system (BESS) developments, including physical assets under its Apatura platform and tolling agreements with Fidra and Zenobë, and is targeting a gigawatt-scale BESS pipeline. It also completed the acquisition of optimisation platform Flexitricity in around March 2026.
Drax is additionally developing options for a 1.2GW-scale data centre on its Drax Power Station site — the UK's largest power station by grid capacity at 4GW — with an initial goal of 100MW from 2027, subject to consents and a full assessment of the investment case.
The group impaired its Canadian pellet operations by £337 million, citing a constrained fibre market and lower expected margins, and has launched a strategic review of those assets. Its UK BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) project was impaired by £48 million, with Drax retaining the option for long-term development pending appropriate commercial and regulatory support for carbon removals.
The full-year dividend was raised 11.5% to 29.0p per share, marking nine consecutive years of dividend growth. A £450 million three-year share buyback extension is under way.
Drax posts record renewable generation as it eyes data centre and storage expansion
