UK’s most polluting power plant could power country’s largest AI datacentre
Summary
Drax, Brookfield and Radiant plan to develop an AI datacentre at the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire, with investment that could exceed £20bn. The first phase could begin operating in early 2028 using grid connections; Drax hopes to supply it directly with power in the early 2030s, subject to regulatory approval.Key Facts
- The planned datacentre could eventually have more than 1 gigawatt of capacity.
- The first phase could provide up to 100 megawatts of computing capacity from the first quarter of 2028.
- Drax would initially provide land and access to the national grid through existing connections at the site.
- Drax generates almost 5% of the UK’s electricity by burning woody biomass pellets.
- The article describes Drax as the UK’s largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions, while noting the government does not count those emissions because of Drax’s carbon-accounting claim.
- The government plans to reduce Drax’s role and limit it to half its current subsidies from 2027 to 2031.
- Drax shares rose almost 9% after the announcement, taking the company’s market value to nearly £3bn.
- The UK government’s draft datacentre policy statement says the country must manage datacentre development and ensure host communities benefit.
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