Brookfield has signed an agreement to develop an artificial intelligence data centre on the Drax Power Station estate in North Yorkshire, with total investment including semiconductors estimated to exceed £20 billion, CNBC reported on Tuesday. The asset manager's neocloud platform Radiant will jointly develop the project with energy company Drax Group, whose London-listed shares rose 8.8 per cent in early morning trading.
The project initially targets up to 100 megawatts of capacity to be operational from the first quarter of 2028, with an additional 500 MW of capacity to be brought online between 2028 and 2031. Brookfield is then looking to secure more than 1 gigawatt of capacity at the site by an unspecified date. The initial phase carries an estimated investment of £2.5 billion and will use power from the grid, targeting commercial customers from early 2028.
The first phase is subject to planning, regulatory and network approvals from the government and relevant agencies, alongside securing a tenant for the project, Drax said in a statement. Final investment decisions are yet to be made.
Europe has been slower than the United States to develop the data centres needed to power AI, with the UK facing high energy costs and long waiting times for businesses to connect to the grid. In October, Microsoft pulled out of a deal to anchor an Nscale data centre outside London amid delays connecting to the country's power grid, CNBC reported. An Nscale spokesperson said at the time that it remained committed to the project and was exploring alternative power sources.
Countries in the Nordic region have seen major commitments to develop AI data centres this year. In September, Google said it would invest at least €13 billion into AI infrastructure in Finland, marking the tech giant's largest single investment in Europe.
Why it matters for wealth
The project represents one of the largest infrastructure commitments in the UK's AI sector and could signal whether the country can compete with lower-cost European jurisdictions for data centre investment. The scale of capital required (£20 billion at a single site) illustrates the infrastructure spending thesis behind AI adoption and the premium investors are willing to pay for grid-connected capacity in developed markets.
Drax said planning and regulatory approvals, alongside securing a tenant, remain outstanding before final investment decisions are made.
Source: CNBC
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