LONDON – The UK government and Drax, opens new tab have agreed a deal that will halve the energy producer’s subsidies over 2027-2031, while ensuring the group uses more sustainable sources of woody biomass, the two sides said on Monday. Drax is Britain’s largest renewable power generator. With the help of government subsidies that run until 2027, it has converted four former coal plants to use biomass to provide around 6% of the country’s electricity. Following a consultation on extending the subsidies, the government said it “cannot allow Drax to operate in the way it has done before or with the level of subsidy it received in the past”. “Biomass currently plays an important role in our energy system, but we are conscious of concerns about sustainability and the level of subsidy biomass plants have received in the past,” Energy Minister Michael Shanks said in a statement, which did not disclose the exact figures of the subsidy.