Drax Group, the FTSE 250 power generator, said on 3 November 2026 that it has signed an agreement with Brookfield and Radiant to build an AI data centre of more than 1GW at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. Brookfield estimates the total investment, including semiconductor chips, could exceed £20bn, and the first 100MW is targeted to be operational from the first quarter of 2028.
In its regulatory announcement, Drax said the partners aim to jointly develop, deliver and operate the data centre on the power station estate. Investment capital and operating capabilities will come through Brookfield’s AI infrastructure joint venture with Qatar-based Qai. Brookfield and Qai announced that $20bn partnership on 9 December 2025. The split of funding and ownership between the partners was not disclosed.
Three phases over more than five years
The project is planned in three stages. The first phase, of up to 100MW, would take its power from the grid, with Drax managing supply. Brookfield expects an initial £2.5bn of investment in this phase. Radiant will lead design, customer engagement and commercialisation, and Drax will lead land, power integration and planning. Phase one depends on planning consent, regulatory and network approvals, securing an acceptable tenant, commercial agreements and a final investment decision by each party. No customer has been named.
The partners have an ambition to add up to 500MW more between 2028 and 2031, supplied directly by Drax’s existing generation under a long-term power purchase agreement, and to develop further capacity after 2031.
The site covers about 1,000 acres and has about 4GW of grid access and 2.6GW of active dispatchable generation, according to Drax. The second phase is linked to the Contract for Difference that Drax signed with the government in November 2025. That deal covers about 6TWh of biomass generation a year from April 2027 to March 2031, and includes a mechanism for Drax to request up to 500MW for a data centre, which needs the agreement of the government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company.
Will Gardiner, chief executive of Drax Group, said the project can “help secure the long-term future of the site and protect hundreds of jobs”.
Who Radiant is
Radiant is Brookfield’s UK-headquartered AI infrastructure platform. Drax describes it as a vertically integrated company that combines powered land, long-term capital and its own software to build and operate AI data centres for hyperscalers, enterprises, telecoms providers and sovereign institutions.
Brookfield created Radiant through a merger with Ori Industries, announced in February 2026. Ori is a London-based cloud computing company founded in 2018 by Mahdi Yahya, who is now Radiant’s chief executive. Reuters reported at the time, citing people familiar with the matter, that Radiant was valued at $1.3bn after the merger. Neither company disclosed the terms.
Mahdi Yahya, chief executive of Radiant, said “it will give British researchers, startups and enterprises access to frontier compute at home.”
Policy backdrop and what to watch
The government’s Compute Roadmap, first published in July 2025, forecasts that the UK will need at least 6GW of AI-capable data centre capacity by 2030. On 28 October 2026 the Treasury published the Data Centre Covenant, which sets tests on energy costs, local benefit plans, water use, jobs and security that strategic data centres must meet to qualify for extra government help with grid connections and planning. The partners said they welcomed the covenant and believe the Drax project fits its criteria.
A planning application for the first phase is being prepared, and public consultation is expected to begin in November 2026. The partners also expect to set up a voluntary community benefits fund, separate from any planning obligations.
Key points to watch:
- whether the project secures an anchor tenant, which Radiant must win before construction starts;
- the outcome of planning and network approvals for the first 100MW;
- whether the government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company agree to let Drax divert up to 500MW of generation to the site;
- how the plan affects the power station’s future after its current subsidy arrangement ends in March 2031.
The project is also likely to draw scrutiny from environmental groups, which have long criticised the power station’s use of wood pellets, a fuel that is still classed as renewable in the UK.
