On 3 November Drax announced a partnership with Brookfield and its UK-based AI infrastructure platform Radiant to build data centre capacity of more than 1 GW at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. Brookfield puts the total investment for the full development at more than £20 billion, with an initial £2.5 billion for the first phase. The money is to come through a joint venture between Brookfield and Qai.
Phases and what the site brings
The first phase is up to 100 MW and is meant to be running from the first quarter of 2028. The partners then aim for 500 MW between 2028 and 2031, with more capacity after that. Drax describes the estate as 1,000 acres with 4 GW of grid access, 2.6 GW of dispatchable generation already in operation, cooling systems and a nearby fibre network.
The first phase depends on planning, approvals from the government and the system operator, and finding a tenant. A community consultation is to start shortly, and Drax expects the formal planning process to begin in the coming months. The partners also say that on a first assessment the project meets the criteria of the government's new Data Centre Covenant.
Where the electricity comes from
The Register reports that the first phase would take its supply from the grid. Drax would like to feed up to 500 MW straight from its own units under a long-term supply contract, and those units burn imported wood pellets. That needs the consent of ministers and the contract counterparty, because the existing support contract covers April 2027 to March 2031. The Register also stresses that the £20 billion is an ambition, that the committed money is far smaller, and that no tenant has been named.
A site that already has the connection
Most data centre developers would give a lot for a site that already carries a large grid connection and a power station next door. This one shows why old generation sites keep turning up in these plans: the connection is the scarce thing, not the land. For anyone sizing backup plant, the question is a different one from a greenfield campus. When the neighbour is a power station and the grid supply is large, the standby sets are still there for the day it fails, and what the tenant will ask for in resilience tends to be set by the tenant, not by the site. Expect those requirements to arrive late, after the planning file has already described the plant.
Sources: Drax, The Register, Anadolu Agency