Drax power station received £999 million in subsidies in 2025, a 15% increase on the previous year and a new record, according to analysis by energy think tank Ember. The figure equates to £13 per year for every UK household.
Drax has been the UK's largest emitter for 10 consecutive years, according to Ember. Despite this, its emissions are zero-rated under current carbon accounting rules because they derive from burning woody biomass, leaving it eligible for public subsidy payments.
The power station entered the final 12 months of its high subsidy period in April 2026. Payments are set to halve to around £460 million annually from 2027, but Ember says the scale of biomass burning at the site means Drax is all but certain to remain the UK's largest emitter until at least 2030.
Frankie Mayo, the report's author, said the figure represented "an astonishing high-water mark for public subsidies", adding that while the reduction from 2027 was welcome, "British taxpayers should never have been in this position in the first place."
The long-term future of biomass burning at Drax is also in question. The company has signalled dwindling confidence in its ability to deliver a promised carbon capture scheme, according to the think tank. Previous Ember analysis found that any transition to bioenergy with carbon capture would require around £30 billion in new subsidies: more than the entire carbon capture and storage budget.
Drax received record £1 billion in biomass subsidies in 2025
