Brookfield and Drax plan $27B AI data campus at Yorkshire power station
Drax Group, Brookfield Asset Management and Radiant, the UK-based AI infrastructure platform backed by Brookfield, have agreed to jointly develop an AI data campus on the Drax Power Station estate in North Yorkshire, according to The Tech Capital. Radiant will lead design, customer engagement and commercialisation. Drax will supply land, generation assets and grid access, while capital will come through a joint venture between Brookfield and Qatar's Qai. The partners say the full build could eventually exceed 1 gigawatt of computing capacity. Drax shares rose more than 8% on the announcement, according to Investing.com.
The first phase is 100MW, with initial investment of £2.5 billion (about $3.4 billion) and operations targeted for early 2028. Brookfield estimates total investment, including semiconductors, could exceed £20 billion ($26.8 billion) if the project is built in full, according to CNBC. TIPP Insights reports that a further 500MW is planned between 2028 and 2031, with a longer-term target above 1GW. Phase one cannot proceed until planning, regulatory and network approvals are in place and a customer is confirmed. Drax has said its plans do not depend on AI Growth Zone status, even though the government rejected a York and North Yorkshire bid for that designation, according to Data Centre Review.
Why it matters
Power and grid access are now a binding limit on new AI capacity in Britain, not only chip supply. City AM reports that the connection queue grew from 41GW in November 2024 to 125GW by June 2025, with data centres accounting for at least 80GW of applications. Some projects are quoted waits of up to 15 years for grid access alone. Teams planning inference or training capacity for 2028 and later should treat a site with a live grid connection as scarce.
For buyers, the open questions are who will hold the capacity and on what terms. The first phase has no named tenant yet, so early anchor customers could influence pricing, contract length and service levels. For funders, the £20 billion figure is a plan, while the committed near-term outlay is £2.5 billion. Watch whether Radiant names a tenant and whether the Brookfield and Qai venture commits capital before planning is granted.
Key points
- 1Total investment could exceed £20 billion ($26.8 billion), including semiconductors, if the project is built in full.
- 2Phase one is 100MW with £2.5 billion of initial investment, targeted for early 2028.
- 3A further 500MW is planned between 2028 and 2031, with a longer-term goal above 1GW.
- 4Phase one requires planning, regulatory and network approvals plus a confirmed tenant before construction proceeds.
- 5
