Great Britain’s Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) and Drax Power Ltd. on Sept. 16 announced the appointment of Forvis Mazars to conduct an independent external audit of Drax’s annual profile data and associated reporting for the compliance period spanning April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024.&nbsp;According to Ofgem, the audit is non-financial and will focus on operational and compliance data that relates to 98% of Drax’s international supply chain and the company’s legal obligations under the Renewables Obligation (RO) scheme. Ofgem also noted the audit is the largest of its kind.&nbsp;Drax committed to the audit following Ofgem’s enforcement investigation into the company. That investigation, which <a href="https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/ofgem-probes-draxs-compliance-with-ro-reporting-requirements-20081">began</a> in early 2023 and <a href="https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/ofgems-drax-investigation-finds-no-harm-to-consumers-drax-agrees-to-pay-25m-into-voluntary-redress-fund">closed</a> in August 2024, did not find any evidence that Drax’s biomass is not sustainable or that Drax had been issued with Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) incorrectly. Following the investigation, Drax agreed pay £25 million&nbsp;into Ofgem's voluntary redress fund related to technical errors in profiling data for Canada between April 2021 and March 2022.&nbsp;Drax also agreed to resubmit its April 2021 – March 2022 profiling data for Canada and produce an independent audit of its biomass profiling period, which spans from April 2023 to March 2024.&nbsp;Forvis Mazars has now been appointed to complete that audit.&nbsp;Ofgem said the auditor has been appointed by Drax following an open, fair and transparent process, where Ofgem was an active observer throughout. The independent audit will be completed to the internationally recognized standard, ISAE3000, and completed to a “reasonable” level of assurance.The independent audit is being led, tendered, commissioned and paid for by Drax, but Ofgem said it will remain engaged throughout the process to ensure confidence in the outputs of the commissioned audit. This will be achieved by the appointment forming a tripartite agreement between Ofgem, Drax and Forvis Mazars, with the audit commencing in September 2025 and conducted in line with the agreed terms of reference.Drax has agreed in full to the audit, its terms of reference, and to the consequences should any potential regulatory breaches be identified. Ofgem will receive the full audit report and will publish a summary of the findings upon completion.“Ofgem takes accurate reporting extremely seriously,” said Neil Lawrence, Ofgem’s director of delivery and schemes. “The onus is on generators to meet their obligations in full, including how they report their data. We are clear that consumers deserve transparency, which is why we have committed to publishing the findings of this comprehensive, international audit on completion. Ofgem will not hesitate to take appropriate action if it reveals any compliance issues.”Drax also issued a statement confirming plans for the audit. “We note that the appointment of an auditor into our historical biomass profiling data, agreed to at the time of the closure of the Ofgem investigation in August 2024, has been announced today,” said a Drax spokesperson. “We fully support this independent external audit process, working with Forvis Mazars and Ofgem, to add further rigor and transparency to our profiling data reporting.“We play a vital role in providing power when the sun&nbsp;doesn’t shine and wind&nbsp;doesn’t blow, so ensuring we are transparent about the sustainability of our biomass is an essential part of how we work.“Following the competitive tender process to appoint an auditor, we are looking forward to working with Forvis Mazars and building on our program of continual improvement.”&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Oftem and Drax Power Ltd. on Sept. 16 announced the appointment of Forvis Mazars to conduct an independent external audit of Drax’s annual profile data and associated reporting for the compliance period spanning April 1, 2023, through March 31, 2024.

Drax, Ofgem announce appointment of independent auditor to review annual profile data, associated reporting

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