Drax inks deal with Brookfield for potential £20bn AI data centre project

(Sharecast News) - Energy firm Drax has signed an agreement with Brookfield and its AI infrastructure platform Radiant to develop a potentially gigawatt-scale data centre at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, with Brookfield estimating total investment could exceed £20bn.

Drax and Brookfield said they were targeting the development of more than one gigawatt of data centre capacity on the power station estate, with an initial phase of up to 100 megawatts expected to be operational from the first quarter of 2028, subject to planning, regulatory approvals and securing a tenant.

Brookfield said Phase 1 alone could attract around £2.5bn of investment, with the project set to leverage Drax Power Station's four gigawatts of grid access and 2.6 gigawatts of dispatchable generation capacity, positioning the site to capitalise on growing demand for AI and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Under the agreement, Radiant will lead data centre design, customer engagement and commercialisation, while Drax will oversee land, planning and power integration.

A planning application for the first phase was being prepared, with a public consultation expected to begin later in November.

Beyond the initial development, the partners aim to add a further 500 megawatts of capacity between 2028 and 2031 and explore additional expansion after 2031.

Drax said future phases could utilise a "behind-the-meter" power model, supplying electricity directly from the power station under long-term power purchase agreements.

As of 1030 GMT, Drax shares were up 8.59% at 878.50p.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

See latest RNS on Sharecast