The proposed £20bn initiative will begin operating in early 2028 with 100 megawatts of capacity before expanding to over 1 gigawatt. Drax, which currently supplies nearly 5% of the UK's power, intends to provide land and grid links before switching to direct power supply in the early 2030s. The move follows policy shifts where ministers designated datacentres as vital infrastructure while cutting Drax's £2m daily subsidies in half from 2027.
Key points
Drax is seeking new revenue sources to offset pending government restrictions and signifi…: Drax is seeking new revenue sources to offset pending government restrictions and significant reductions in biomass subsidies.
New national policy statements classify datacentres as critical economic infrastructure d…: New national policy statements classify datacentres as critical economic infrastructure despite ongoing constraints across the power grid.
Expanding electricity-heavy facilities raises concerns that operators may rely on off-gri…: Expanding electricity-heavy facilities raises concerns that operators may rely on off-grid gas generation to bypass congested network connections.
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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.
In the initial phase of the project Drax will provide the datacentre project with land and access to the national power grid through existing connections on the site, but it hopes to begin powering the datacentre directly by the early 2030s.
Drax said the development could attract more than £20bn ($26.8bn) in investment and represent “the next chapter” for the former power plant after ministers signalled plans to limit its power generation in the future.
The 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…
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