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Drax Group PLC on Thursday said it has made a strong start to the year and continues to assess options in battery energy storage systems and for its power station site. The Selby, North Yorkshire-based electricity generator continues to expect 2026 full year adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be in line with consensus estimates of £665 million. Full year expectations remain subject to continued good operational performance, the firm added. In 2025, Drax reported adjusted Ebitda of £947 million. ‘We have started the year well and have delivered a good operational performance across the group,’ said Chief Executive Will Gardiner. Addressing the Middle East crisis, the FTSE 250 listing explained that it has limited exposure to underlying commodity prices, sourcing biomass primarily from North America, including from the group’s own facilities in the US South. Drax said the removal of the UK Carbon Price Support mechanism from April 2028, does not change its expectations. Units 1 and 2 of the Cruachan Power Station are continuing to perform well, while units 3 and 4 are undertaking a planned outage programme through 2026 and 2027, to refurbish and upgrade the two units. In late December, a grid connection failure caused by assets owned by Scottish Power Energy Networks resulted in an ongoing forced outage on units 3 and 4. SPEN is working with Drax to restore the connection. Drax said it continues to explore a pipeline of additional battery energy storage system opportunities after completing the acquisition of Flexitricity in March. The Pellet Production business is performing well, with a continued focus on cost reduction in its US operations. A strategic review of the Canadian operations is ongoing. Drax Power Station, the UK’s largest single source of 24/7 renewable power, is performing well. A major planned outage on one unit is scheduled for the summer. Drax said it continues to evaluate opportunities to maximise value from the power station site, including the potential for a 100 megawatt data centre, with an ambition to grow to a more than 1 gigawatt data centre post 2031. It is also assessing options for other renewables projects. Shares in Drax were 1.9% higher at 882.80 pence each in London on Thursday. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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