Drax Group told investors it has agreed a strategic partnership with Brookfield and its UK-headquartered AI infrastructure platform Radiant to develop a data centre at Drax Power Station in the north of England, targeting more than 1GW of capacity in aggregate.
The London-listed power generator and biomass pellet producer said Brookfield estimates total potential investment, including semiconductor chips, could exceed £20 billion, with an initial £2.5 billion earmarked for the first phase.
The project will draw on investment capital and operating capabilities from a Brookfield-Qai AI infrastructure joint venture announced in 2025, alongside Radiant's AI infrastructure expertise and Drax's powered land and generation capacity.
Phase 1 targets up to 100MW of compute capacity, operational from the first quarter of 2028, using power imported directly from the grid at Drax Power Station, which has 4GW of grid access and 2.6GW of dispatchable generation capacity.
Radiant will lead design, customer engagement and commercialisation, seeking anchor customer commitments before construction begins, while Drax will handle land, power integration and planning.
A planning application for Phase 1 is being prepared, with a public consultation expected to start in November.
Phase 2 is an ambition to add a further 500MW of capacity between 2028 and 2031, using a behind-the-meter solution to supply round-the-clock power under a long-term power purchase agreement.
That phase would draw on a Contract-for-Difference agreement Drax signed with the UK government in November 2025, covering approximately 6TWh of biomass generation annually between April 2027 and March 2031, equivalent to around 30% of total annual baseload output from its 2.6GW of active generation; the CfD includes a mechanism allowing Drax to request up to 500MW of that capacity for a data centre, subject to agreement with the government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company.
Phase 3 is an ambition to develop additional capacity beyond 2031 using the same behind-the-meter approach.
Read more about DRAX
- 29/05/26Drax commissions first OCGT at Hirwaun and assumes commercial control
- 30/04/26Drax Group 'excited', says EBITDA expected 'in line' with consensus
Progress on Phase 1 depends on planning, regulatory and network approvals, securing an acceptable tenant, negotiating commercial agreements, and each party reaching a final investment decision.
"Drax Power Station is one of the few UK sites that can provide large-scale reliable power directly to data centre customers by utilising existing and underutilised generation capacity," said Drax chief executive Will Gardiner, adding that the project "can help secure the long-term future of the site and protect hundreds of jobs" while supporting northern growth.
The announcement comes weeks after Drax lifted its full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA expectation to the top of analyst consensus, then in a range of £680 million to £711 million, as it completed the £561 million acquisition of Bluefield Solar Income Fund and pressed ahead with a flexible-generation buildout spanning OCGT plants at Hirwaun and a growing battery storage pipeline.