Brookfield and Drax Group plan to develop a £20 billion ($26.8 billion) AI data center at Drax Power Station in North Yorkshire. The project targets 100 megawatts of capacity operational by the first quarter of 2028, expanding to 500 megawatts between 2028 and 2031, with plans to eventually exceed 1 gigawatt. Brookfield's initial £2.5 billion investment will cover phase 1, which requires planning approval, regulatory clearance, grid connection, and a committed tenant.
Radiant CEO Mahdi Yahya said the project gives "British researchers, startups and enterprises access to frontier compute at home." The facility will initially draw power from the grid and serve commercial customers starting early 2028.
The U.K. has lagged behind the U.S. in AI data center development due to high energy costs and lengthy grid connection delays. Microsoft withdrew from an Nscale data center project outside London in October citing power grid delays. Nordic countries like Finland have attracted major commitments instead. Google committed at least 13 billion euros to AI infrastructure in Finland in September.
Drax shares rose 8.8% in early trading on the announcement.