Drax under fire for biomass emissions tied to data centre plans

Drax’s plans for a major data centre campus at its Selby power station are facing fresh scrutiny after campaigners estimated that supplying its proposed behind-the-meter capacity with biomass could require around 4.9 million tonnes of wood a year.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) also estimates that the scenario could produce 8.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, which is nearly twice the amount of yearly emissions from Gatwick flights.

This isn’t the first time Drax has come under fire from environmental campaigners, with it previously being criticised for burning rare forest wood at its biomass plant in Selby. While it has denied those allegations, the company is now facing backlash for its plans to build a data centre at the site.

From 100MW to a gigawatt-scale campus

Drax first outlined plans for an approximately 100MW data centre at its Selby power station in December 2025. Although it would be located near that power station, Drax was keen to stress that the electricity used at the data centre would be imported through the grid rather than taken power directly from the biomass units.

The company has, however, explored a much larger development, including options for a 1.2GW-scale campus. That expansion could include behind-the-meter electricity supplied directly from Drax’s generation assets – and it is roughly 1.1GW of potential capacity beyond the initial grid-powered phase that NRDC has stress-tested.

Drax disputes both NRDC’s methodology and its assumptions about how the larger campus would be powered, but it has placed further uncertainty around the company’s plans to build a data centre in Selby.

AI Growth Zone setback adds further uncertainty

That uncertainty has increased further, with The Times reporting that the proposal to designate Drax Power Station as an AI Growth Zone has been rejected by the Government and no longer has the backing of North Yorkshire Council.

The original York and North Yorkshire bid was centred on Drax Power Station, with regional plans describing a 600MW behind-the-meter data centre development capable of reaching gigawatt scale.

AI Growth Zone status could have helped address power, planning and investment barriers around the expansion. York and North Yorkshire is not among the five zones currently designated by the Government, although the programme remains open to further applications.

While it won’t impact the 100MW first phase, unless the local council decides to pump the brakes on that too, it could be a devastating blow to the larger campus.

Biomass estimate broadly matches Drax data

While Drax has hit back at the NRDC, its figures haven’t been plucked from nowhere. The group assumes the proposed behind-the-meter capacity operates continuously using electricity generated at Drax.

That is not a committed power model, but its 4.9 million tonne biomass estimate broadly matches an extrapolation from Drax’s own 2025 figures.

Drax reported consuming 7.74 million tonnes of finished wood-pellet-equivalent biomass at Drax Power Station in 2025. Its generation figures indicate around 15.36TWh of biomass electricity during the year.

Applying that fuel intensity to a constant 1.1GW load, which would consume around 9.64TWh annually, implies an annual biomass requirement of approximately 4.85 million tonnes.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Drax intends to operate the larger campus in that way. Its eventual power mix remains unresolved, and the company specifically disputes NRDC’s assumptions about how the development would be supplied.

NRDC’s estimated 8.6 million tonnes of annual CO2 emissions is also disputed by Drax.

Does Drax have a point?

On the assumed power mix, Drax does have a point. Nowhere has the company committed to continuously supplying the entire data centre campus from its biomass units, and it isn’t able to simply do so under the arrangements currently in place.

That’s because its Low-Carbon Dispatchable Contract for Difference runs from April 2027 to March 2031 and supports around 6TWh of biomass generation annually, according to the company.

Drax would need Government permission before supplying a data centre directly from its biomass units during that period. The company says the contract allows it to seek approval for up to 500MW of direct data centre supply.

What happens after 2031 is less certain, with the Government yet to determine Drax’s future support arrangements. But the dispute also reflects the wider argument over biomass emissions.

Burning biomass releases CO2 at the point of combustion, but international greenhouse gas inventories treat biogenic emissions differently from fossil-fuel emissions to avoid double counting between the energy and land-use sectors.

That accounting convention does not mean biomass is automatically carbon neutral. Its wider climate impact depends on factors including forest carbon stocks, regrowth and supply-chain emissions.

Drax reported 14.1 million tonnes of direct biogenic CO2 emissions across the Group in 2025, reported separately from its Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

The company and its regional partners have also presented carbon capture and storage as a potential route towards a carbon-negative data centre at Selby, although that technology has often come up as a silver bullet for emissions-producing industries, even if it remains unproven at a large scale.

For now, Drax is still preparing the planning application for its approximately 100MW grid-powered first phase. That is likely to go ahead, as long as it receives approval, and then who knows? Maybe the Government’s supposed decision to not back an AI Growth Zone in the area ultimately kills Drax’s larger ambitions, or it’ll opt to simply push forward anyway. Time will tell.