Qatar's Qai and Brookfield Make First Joint Bet on UK Data Centre at Drax Power Station

The deal is the first investment by the $20 billion AI infrastructure partnership the two formed last December, according to Semafor. That venture was set up mainly to build computing capacity in Qatar, with a mandate to look at projects abroad. Its first commitment has gone instead to a converted coal and biomass plant in northern England. The partners plan to invest about £2.5 billion, or roughly $3.4 billion, in the project's early stages, according to reports of Tuesday's announcement. Semafor said the money would be spent over the next five years.

The Drax project also shows how the Gulf's sovereign investors are going about buying AI infrastructure. The consultancy Global SWF, cited by Semafor, said each fund is taking its own route. Abu Dhabi's MGX is putting outside institutional money to work, Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN runs AI operations alongside its investments, and Qai has paired with an infrastructure specialist to develop computing assets.

The first phase would provide up to 100 megawatts from the first quarter of 2028, using Drax's existing connection to the national grid. Drax first announced a 100MW plan in December 2025, and the ambition has grown since. Later phases could take power directly from the station's own generators under a behind-the-meter arrangement and a long-term power purchase agreement. Brookfield estimates the full campus would need more than £20 billion of investment, including IT hardware, according to Data Centre Review.

Brookfield's UK AI platform, Radiant, will lead design, customer engagement and commercial work. Drax will supply the land, manage power integration and handle planning. The Selby site covers more than 1,000 acres and has about 4GW of grid access and 2.6GW of dispatchable generation. Drax Group chief executive Will Gardiner said the station is "one of the few UK sites that can provide large-scale reliable power directly to data centre customers".

The power link is the project's main advantage, but it comes with conditions. Drax's Contract for Difference with the government supports about 6TWh a year of biomass generation from April 2027 to March 2031. Under that contract, Drax can ask to divert up to 500MW to a data centre, but only with approval from the government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company. In January the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed that Drax cannot supply its biomass units directly to a data centre during the support period without that approval.

Global SWF also noted that the scheme still needs construction approval, government sign-offs and an anchor tenant. Drax is preparing a planning application and expects public consultation to start this month. The government rejected York and North Yorkshire's bid for AI Growth Zone status. Drax says its plans do not depend on that designation.

The project has drawn opposition. Campaigners argue that a fully built campus would mean burning more wood and would conflict with Britain's 2050 net zero target. Drax has faced accusations that it burns wood from rare forests, which it denies. DatacenterDynamics cited Ember data showing the power station emitted 14.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025.

The next test is the public consultation, which will show how much local resistance the plan faces before Drax files for planning permission. The other open question is whether Radiant can sign an anchor customer to fill the first 100MW before 2028.