Drax partners plan major AI datacentre at North Yorkshire power station

Drax struck an agreement with infrastructure investor Brookfield and AI infrastructure platform Radiant to develop a datacentre at its North Yorkshire power station, the Guardian reported on 3 November 2026. Drax said the project could attract more than £20bn in investment, with eventual capacity exceeding one gigawatt, potentially making it Britain’s largest datacentre.

The first phase was targeted for the first quarter of 2028, offering up to 100MW of compute capacity. Drax would initially provide land and existing grid connections, with direct electricity supplies envisaged for the early 2030s. The company hoped to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals before 2031, as government plans limited its future generation and reduced subsidies.

The proposal links AI infrastructure expansion with the future of a biomass plant that, according to the report, supplied almost 5% of UK electricity. Analysts identified Drax as the country’s largest single carbon dioxide emitter, while concerns about its sustainability claims preceded government plans to halve its subsidies for 2027–2031.