Drax has agreed to work with infrastructure investor Brookfield and AI infrastructure platform Radiant on a datacentre at its power plant in North Yorkshire. The project could attract more than £20bn in investment and ultimately exceed 1GW of capacity, potentially making it the UK’s largest datacentre.
The first phase is planned to become operational in the first quarter of 2028, with up to 100MW of compute capacity. Initially, Drax would provide land and access to the national grid through existing connections at the site. The company hopes to begin supplying power directly to the datacentre in the early 2030s, subject to regulatory approvals.
Drax described the development as “the next chapter” for the site, as ministers have indicated the power plant will have a more limited role in future. The government has also committed to reducing Drax’s subsidies to half their current level between 2027 and 2031.
Drax chief executive Will Gardiner said the project could help secure the site’s long-term future and protect hundreds of jobs, while supporting reindustrialisation in the north and strengthening the UK’s AI capabilities.
The plant generates almost 5% of the UK’s electricity by burning woody biomass pellets. Analysts have identified it as the country’s largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, although those emissions are not counted by the government because Drax says the trees used for the biomass absorb an equivalent amount of carbon as they grow.
The plans come amid wider questions about how the UK can supply power to a growing number of datacentres. Congestion on the national grid and legally binding climate targets have raised concerns about reliance on expensive, polluting off-grid gas generation. The government recently published a draft policy statement describing datacentres as fundamental to the economy and calling for host communities to benefit from their development.
Sources: The Guardian Business.