According to Sharecast.com, a strategic partnership has been struck for a GW-scale data centre.
Drax has signed an agreement to develop a strategic partnership with Brookfield and Radiant, Brookfield's UK-headquartered AI infrastructure platform, to jointly develop, deliver and operate an AI data centre on the Drax Power Station estate in the north of England. The partnership combines Radiant's AI infrastructure expertise with Drax's powered land and generation capabilities. Investment capital and operating capabilities are provided through a Brookfield-Qai AI infrastructure joint venture announced in 2025 (together, "the Partners").
**Project highlights**
- Strategic partnership targeting development of a data centre of more than 1GW at Drax Power Station.
- Phase 1: targeting up to 100MW, operational from Q1 2028.
- Phase 2: ambition to ramp up to an additional 500MW of capacity between 2028 and 2031.
- Phase 3: ambition to develop additional capacity after 2031.
- Brookfield estimates that total potential investment, including semiconductor chips, could exceed £20 billion, with an initial £2.5 billion as part of Phase 1.
The partnership will focus on a data centre that will use Drax Power Station's 4GW of grid access and 2.6GW of dispatchable generation capacity.
The first phase, using power directly from the grid, targets commercial operations from early 2028. Progress on Phase 1 is subject to planning approvals, required regulatory and network approvals from Government and relevant agencies, securing an acceptable tenant, negotiating the necessary commercial agreements, and a final investment decision by each party.
Drax Group CEO Will Gardiner said: "We are proud to be partnering with leading AI infrastructure providers on this project, which can help secure the long-term future of the site and protect hundreds of jobs, maintain a critical source of this country's energy security, support northern growth and enable us to continue delivering for our local communities.
"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, supporting the North's reindustrialisation and strengthening sovereign AI capability.
"Drax Power Station is one of the few UK sites that can provide large-scale reliable power directly to data centre customers by utilising existing and underutilised generation capacity. We welcome the Government's recognition that strategically important data centres need faster access to power and planning. The priority now must be turning that ambition into delivery, so projects like this can move at the pace the UK needs to compete for global AI investment."
Brookfield Head of AI Infrastructure Sikander Rashid said: "Teaming up with Drax and Qai for this project represents a major opportunity for our AI infrastructure strategy. Our capital and deep operating capabilities will help accelerate the construction of a critical piece of sovereign AI, delivered by Radiant, our UK-headquartered compute infrastructure platform. In addition to preserving hundreds of jobs, this project will also create many direct and indirect jobs across the broader Yorkshire area."
Qai Chairman and Managing Director Abdulla Al-Misnad said: "This project is a major initiative under the Brookfield-Qai joint venture and forms part of our international AI infrastructure strategy. Drawing on the combined expertise of Qai and Brookfield in developing and managing large-scale critical infrastructure, and with Radiant and Drax delivering the project, we are helping to establish the infrastructure required to support the long-term growth of the UK's AI ecosystem."
Radiant CEO Mahdi Yahya said: "We are proud to expand our UK AI compute footprint with Drax. This is a unique opportunity for the UK's AI ecosystem to build at scale. By designing, building and operating from the UK, it will give British researchers, startups and enterprises access to frontier compute at home. Drax has powered Britain for more than fifty years. Together we can power its AI economy for the next fifty."
**Details of the partnership**
**Phase 1: 2026–2028.** Phase 1 targets a data centre with up to 100MW of compute capacity, which would make it one of the largest current data centres in the UK. The development, on land identified at Drax Power Station, will use existing infrastructure to import power directly from the grid, managed by Drax. Radiant will lead on design, customer engagement and commercialisation, seeking to secure anchor customer commitments before construction begins. Drax will lead on land, power integration and planning.
A planning application for Phase 1 is being prepared, and a public consultation is expected to begin in November 2026.
The Partners expect to establish a voluntary community benefits fund, developed in consultation with communities around the Drax Power Station site. The fund will be separate from, and additional to, any planning obligations and Drax's existing community initiatives.
**Phase 2: 2028–2031.** Phase 2 is an ambition to develop options for 500MW of data centre capacity between 2028 and 2031. It is expected to use existing generation capabilities at Drax Power Station to provide a distributed energy and management solution (behind-the-meter), supplying around-the-clock power directly to a data centre under a long-term power purchase agreement, subject to necessary consents.
In November 2025, Drax signed a Contract for Difference (CfD) agreement with the UK Government to provide c.6TWh of biomass generation per annum between April 2027 and March 2031. This equates to c.30% of total annual baseload output from its 2.6GW of active generation. The CfD includes a mechanism allowing Drax to request that up to 500MW of capacity be used to power a data centre during this period. Any such request is subject to agreement with the UK Government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company, which will weigh factors including value for money for consumers, energy security and sustainability.
Drax Power Station's role in supporting UK security of supply, providing low-carbon dispatchable power and delivering critical system services will remain unchanged.
**Phase 3: post-2031.** Phase 3 is an ambition to develop options for additional data centre capacity after 2031, using the same behind-the-meter solution as Phase 2.
In aggregate, Phases 1, 2 and 3 have the potential to deliver GW-scale data centre capability at Drax Power Station.
**About Drax Power Station**
The Drax Power Station estate is located centrally in the UK, next to one of the country's largest substations. It comprises over 1,000 acres and c.4GW of grid access, with 2.6GW of active dispatchable generation and cooling systems. The site's proximity to the UK fibre network makes it well suited to a data centre, alongside its role in power generation for the UK system.
**About Radiant**
Radiant is a vertically integrated AI infrastructure company combining utility-scale powered land, long-term capital and a proprietary AI infrastructure software platform. Backed by Brookfield, Radiant builds and operates AI factories for hyperscalers, enterprises, telecommunications providers and sovereign institutions. It delivers scalable compute with utility-grade economics, operational resilience and planning horizons aligned to the long-term demands of the AI economy.
**About Qai**
Qai is a global technology company headquartered in Qatar. Its mission is to enable and scale the deployment of AI to create long-term value for enterprises and society. Qai develops AI infrastructure and proprietary platforms and operates under the Doha Investment platform.