Drax Group, the FTSE 250 owner of the North Yorkshire power station, has struck a £20 billion agreement with Brookfield and AI infrastructure specialist Radiant to develop a large-scale datacentre on the existing plant site.
The partners said the project is intended to support AI workloads and would have an eventual capacity of more than 1 gigawatt, a scale that could make it the largest datacentre in the United Kingdom. Drax described the plan as the site's 'next chapter', and the companies said initial operations could start as early as the beginning of 2028.
Scale and timing
A datacentre with over 1 GW of capacity would represent a major new demand for power, reflecting the rapid growth in energy requirements tied to advanced AI infrastructure. Brookfield, a global infrastructure investor, and Radiant, which specialises in AI-focused datacentre platforms, will collaborate with Drax on development, construction and deployment of the site.
The North Yorkshire power station has attracted attention for its emissions profile; repurposing part of the site for datacentre use is likely to prompt scrutiny from environmental groups and regulators given the energy-intensive nature of AI operations. The companies have not issued detailed technical or emissions plans in their announcement.
Next steps for the project will include detailed planning, regulatory approvals and further commercial arrangements before construction and full-scale operations can proceed. The partners have framed the initiative as a major infrastructure investment that links Britain's existing energy assets with the expanding market for AI computing capacity.