{
  "id": 17957803,
  "title": "UK’s most polluting power plant could power country’s largest AI datacentre",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/03/uks-most-polluting-power-plant-could-power-countrys-largest-ai",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-03T11:55:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Business",
    "slug": "guardian-business",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/nov/03/uk-drax-power-station-ai-datacentre"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Drax, Britain's most polluting power plant, is set to become the site of the country's largest AI datacenter under a £20 billion deal. The FTSE 250 owner of Drax has partnered with Brookfield and Radiant to build a datacenter with a capacity exceeding 1 gigawatt, potentially starting operations by early 2028. Initially, Drax will provide the land and access to the national power grid, but plans to directly power the datacenter by the early 2030s are in place. The project, expected to attract over £20 billion in investment, is seen as the \"next chapter\" for the former power plant, safeguarding jobs and supporting the north's reindustrialization.\n\nThe current Drax plant generates almost 5% of the UK's electricity by burning woody biomass pellets, making it the single largest emitter of carbon dioxide. However, these emissions are not recognized by the UK government, as Drax claims the equivalent carbon is absorbed by growing trees used for the biomass pellets. Despite this, the government has promised a \"much more limited role\" for Drax in the future, reducing its £2 million-a-day subsidies from 2027 to 2031. The company aims to secure regulatory approvals to start powering the datacenter directly before 2031 to ensure long-term revenue.\n\nThe news of the project has been well-received by equity analysts, with the company's market value rising by nearly 9% on the London Stock Exchange, reaching nearly £3 billion. Drax's phase one of the project will see the datacenter operational by the first quarter of 2028, with up to 100MW of compute capacity. The deal comes a week after the government published a draft national policy statement on datacenters, emphasizing their importance to the economy, akin to railways and electricity networks. The government stated the need to take control over datacenter development to ensure benefits for the country and host communities. However, concerns remain over how the UK's congested grid infrastructure and ambitious climate targets can be met without relying heavily on expensive and polluting off-grid gas generation.",
  "summary": "Drax’s FTSE 250 owner strikes £20bn deal to build infrastructure in what it says is site’s ‘next chapter’ Business live – latest updates Britain’s most polluting power plant could soon power the country’s largest datacentre under a £20bn deal to build AI infrastructure on the site of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire. The power plant’s FTSE 250 owner has struck a deal with the…",
  "key_points": [
    "Drax, UK's most polluting power plant, to host country's largest AI datacenter.",
    "£20 billion investment to power datacenter by early 2028, potentially by early 2030s.",
    "Drax to directly power datacenter by early 2030s, reducing carbon emissions."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}