Shares in renewable power company Drax Group (LON:DRX) jumped on news the firm will build an AI data centre. Together with global investment group Brookfield, Drax will develop, deliver and operate the data centre on its own estate.
Plans for on-site data centre
Drax is partnering with Radiant, Brookfield’s UK-based AI infrastructure platform, to deliver the planned project in three phases. The first phase will target up to 100MW of capacity and is expected to be operational by Q1 2028.
The second phase aims to ramp capacity by up to an additional 500MW between 2028 and 2031. The third phase will add more capacity post 2031 to pass the 1GW milestone.
Brookfield estimates the total potential investment, including chips, could top £20 billion. So far, phase one has been budgeted at around £2.5 billion with finance from Brookfield and a Qatari technology company.
What did the firm say?
CEO Will Gardiner said the project would secure the site’s future and maintain a critical source of UK energy security. ‘This country has a unique opportunity to bring together AI leadership, energy infrastructure and industrial renewal to drive national growth.
‘If constructed in full, this project could become one of the largest data centres in the UK, with the potential to attract billions in inward investment, strengthening sovereign AI capability.’
Building a data centre next to a power station is such a brilliant solution it’s a wonder no-one has come up with it before. At once it solves the issue of energy supply and where to put it so it infringes the least on local communities.
Drax power station is perfectly placed to provide large-scale, reliable power directly to data centre customers through its existing, under-utilised generation capacity. Thinking about it, this model could work across Europe, not just in the UK, making the whole continent a magnet for AI investment.
