Drax, Brookfield and Radiant Partner on GW-Scale AI Data Centre at Drax Power Station in £20B Plan
By James Dargan · · 2 min read
Drax, Brookfield and Radiant, Brookfield’s UK-headquartered AI infrastructure platform, have formed a strategic partnership to develop, deliver and operate gigawatt-scale data centre capacity at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. The project will be backed by the Brookfield-Qai AI infrastructure joint venture, with Brookfield estimating total investment could exceed £20bn, including an initial £2.5bn for the first phase.
Development will proceed in phases, starting with up to 100MW targeted to be operational from Q1 2028, rising towards 500MW between 2028 and 2031, with further capacity planned after 2031. The first phase depends on planning, regulatory and network approvals, as well as securing a suitable tenant. The 1,000-acre site offers 4GW of grid access, 2.6GW of active dispatchable generation and proximity to the UK fibre network.
The partners said the project aligns with the Government’s AI sovereignty and reindustrialisation ambitions and its new Data Centre Covenant. They also plan a voluntary community benefits fund, with consultation beginning shortly.
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner said the project could secure the site’s long-term future, protect hundreds of jobs and, if built in full, become one of the UK’s largest data centres, strengthening sovereign AI capability. Brookfield Head of AI Infrastructure Sikander Rashid said the firm’s capital and operating expertise would accelerate construction, while Radiant CEO Mahdi Yahya said it would give British researchers, startups and enterprises access to frontier compute at home. Qai Chairman and Managing Director Abdulla Al-Misnad described it as a major initiative within Qai’s international AI infrastructure strategy.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said such investments would help drive British reindustrialisation and create jobs in Yorkshire, and Science Minister Chris McDonald called it a strong vote of confidence in the UK and its partnership with Qatar.
Featured image: Credit: Drax
