Drax power station to host £20bn AI data centre in North Yorkshire

Summarised from 5 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 16:54 · Archive

Drax power station in North Yorkshire will host a major AI data centre under a £20 billion investment deal with Brookfield and Radiant.

Drax power station in North Yorkshire has entered a joint venture with Brookfield, an infrastructure investor, and Radiant, an AI infrastructure platform, to develop what could become Britain's largest AI data centre. The project is expected to attract more than £20 billion in total investment, with Brookfield committing an initial £2.5 billion for phase one through a joint venture that also involves Qatari AI firm Qai.

The data centre will be built on 4.5 hectares at the Drax site, occupying the space equivalent to six football pitches on the power station's 1,000-acre estate. The first phase will target 100 megawatts of capacity, with operations targeted to begin in the first quarter of 2028. Additional capacity of 500 megawatts is planned between 2028 and 2031, with further development to eventually exceed 1 gigawatt.

Drax will provide land and access to the national power grid through existing connections at the site for the initial phase. However, the company hopes to begin powering the data centre directly from its own facilities by the early 2030s. The first phase will serve commercial customers from early 2028.

Drax chief executive Will Gardiner said the project would "help secure the long-term future of the site and protect hundreds of jobs" while "supporting the north's reindustrialisation and strengthening sovereign AI capability". Radiant CEO Mahdi Yahya described it as "a unique opportunity for the UK's AI ecosystem to build at scale", offering British researchers, startups and enterprises access to frontier computing capacity.

The scheme comes as Europe seeks to develop AI infrastructure amid high energy and land costs, with the US having moved ahead in building large data centres. Drax produces nearly 5 per cent of the UK's electricity by burning biomass pellets.

Several conditions must be met before the project proceeds. It remains subject to planning permission, regulatory and network approvals from government and relevant agencies, and Drax must secure a commercial tenant for the facility. Final investment decisions have yet to be made. Drax shares rose 8.8 per cent on the announcement.

How it is being reported

• Yorkshire power station could host one of Britain's largest data centres in deal worth billionsPower station Drax could host one of Britain's largest data centres in a deal that could top £20 billion. The North Yorkshire power plant, which provides five per cent of the UK's electricity, has teamed up with investment group Brookfield and its AI business, Radiant. Brookfield has agreed an initial £2.5 billion investment in the project through a joint venture with Qatari AI firm, Qai. But total investments could exceed £20 billion. The group plans to have a 100 MW data centre in operation from 2028. It then plans to increase this capacity to 500MW by 2031, with further development to…GB News · 3 Nov, 16:44
• Drax wants to feed Britain's AI habit with £20B datacenter at biomass power stationBut first it needs planning permission, government approval and, rather importantly, a customerThe Register · 3 Nov, 13:27
• UK’s most polluting power plant could power country’s largest AI datacentreDrax’s FTSE 250 owner strikes £20bn deal to build infrastructure in what it says is site’s ‘next chapter’ Business live – latest updates Britain’s most polluting power plant could soon power the country’s largest datacentre under a £20bn deal to build AI infrastructure on the site of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire. The power plant’s FTSE 250 owner has struck a deal with the infrastructure investor Brookfield and and the AI infrastructure platform Radiant to develop a datacentre with an eventual capacity of more than 1 gigawatt that could begin operations by early 2028. Continue…The Guardian · 3 Nov, 11:55
• Brookfield targets $27 billion AI data center at power station. Energy firm Drax surges 8%Europe is scrambling to develop infrastructure to support the rollout of AI amid high energy and land costs.CNBC · 3 Nov, 08:28
• Plans revealed for AI data centre at former power station in North YorkshireEnergy giant Drax has announced plans to build an AI data centre on 4.5 hectares of land at its North Yorkshire site.Sky News Technology · 3 Nov, 08:07

In this story: Drax · Brookfield · Radiant · North Yorkshire · Qai · Will Gardiner · Mahdi Yahya · United Kingdom

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