Drax, Brookfield and QIA Agree £2.5 Billion First Phase of £20 Billion AI Data Centre in Yorkshire

Drax Group has agreed a strategic partnership with Brookfield Asset Management and the Qatar Investment Authority to develop a large-scale AI data centre at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire, with total investment that could exceed £20 billion. Brookfield and QIA will provide an initial £2.5 billion, equivalent to roughly $3.4 billion, to fund the first phase of the project, which is being commercialised through Brookfield's Radiant AI infrastructure platform.

The first phase targets up to 100 megawatts of compute capacity and is aimed at achieving commercial operations from early 2028, subject to planning consent, regulatory approvals, customer commitments and a final investment decision. A planning application is being prepared, with public consultation expected to begin in November 2026.

A second phase planned between 2028 and 2031 would add a further 500 megawatts of capacity, drawing on power from Drax Power Station under a long-term power purchase agreement, with further expansion to gigawatt scale possible after 2031. The site's 4 gigawatts of grid access and 2.6 gigawatts of dispatchable generation capacity underpin the project's scale. Total investment across all phases, including semiconductor chips, could surpass £20 billion.

Under the partnership structure, Radiant will lead design, customer engagement and commercialisation, while Drax will oversee land, power integration and planning. Drax chief executive Will Gardiner said the project could secure the long-term future of the Drax site, protect jobs and strengthen the UK's domestic AI infrastructure.