UK’s Drax power plant set to host $27B AI data center project

Britain's Drax power station in North Yorkshire could become the country's largest data center under a £20 billion ($27 billion) agreement to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure, The Guardian reported.

Drax, the FTSE 250-listed power plant owner, reached an agreement with infrastructure investor Brookfield and artificial intelligence infrastructure platform Radiant to develop a data center with an eventual capacity exceeding 1 gigawatt, according to the report.

The first phase is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2028, providing up to 100 megawatts of computing capacity.

Under the initial plans, Drax will provide land and access to the national electricity grid through existing connections at the site.

The company aims to begin supplying electricity directly to the data center by the early 2030s, subject to regulatory approval.

Drax said the development could attract more than $27 billion in investment, describing it as "the next chapter" for the site as the government plans to limit its future role in electricity generation.

Drax Chief Executive Will Gardiner said the project would "help secure the long-term future of the site and protect hundreds of jobs."

He added that the development would support the “north's reindustrialisation and strengthening sovereign AI capability."

Environmental concerns persist

The proposed development comes amid growing scrutiny of Drax's environmental record.

The power station generates almost 5% of the UK's electricity by burning woody biomass pellets.

Analysts consider the facility the country's single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions.

However, those emissions are not included in the UK government's carbon accounts because Drax claims they are offset by the growth of trees used to produce the biomass fuel.

The government has pledged a "much more limited role" for the plant amid concerns over its sustainability claims.