Drax 运营着英国最大的发电站，位于北约克郡。该公司计划与 Brookfield 及其英国 AI 基础设施业务 Radiant 合作，在那里建设一个 AI 数据中心。Drax 周二在一份股市声明中表示，该场地最终可容纳超过 1GW 的算力。
Drax runs Britain’s largest power station, in North Yorkshire. It plans to build an AI data centre there with Brookfield and Radiant, Brookfield’s UK-based AI infrastructure business. The site could eventually host more than 1GW of computing capacity, Drax said in a stock market statement on Tuesday.
Brookfield 估计，包括芯片在内的总投资可能超过 200 亿英镑（约合 268 亿美元）。首期将投入 25 亿英镑，目标是到 2028 年初实现高达 100MW 的算力。资金将通过 Brookfield 与 Qai 的合资企业提供，后者是卡塔尔投资局的子公司。
Brookfield estimates the total investment could top £20bn ($26.8bn), including chips. An initial £2.5bn would go into the first phase, which targets up to 100MW from early 2028. The money would come through a joint venture between Brookfield and Qai, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.
Drax 首席执行官 Will Gardiner 表示：“Drax 发电站是英国极少数能够利用现有及未充分利用的发电容量，直接为数据中心客户提供大规模可靠电力的场地之一。”
“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,” said Drax CEO Will Gardiner.
该项目分三期，且发电站将“表后”供电。园区占地逾 1000 英亩，拥有约 4GW 的电网接入容量和 2.6GW 的发电容量。第一期将从国家电网取电。
Three phases, and a power plant behind the meter The estate covers more than 1,000 acres, with about 4GW of grid access and 2.6GW of generating capacity. The first phase would take its power from the national grid. A second phase aims to add another 500MW between 2028 and 2031.
第二期计划在 2028 年至 2031 年间再增加 500MW。届时，Drax 自身的发电机组将根据长期合同直接为数据中心供电。第三期计划在 2031 年后进一步扩容。
This time, Drax’s own generators would power the data centre directly under a long-term contract. A third phase aims to add more capacity after 2031. That plan needs the government’s consent.
该计划需要政府批准。Drax 的生物质发电补贴合同自 2027 年 4 月至 2031 年 3 月，允许 Drax 申请向数据中心输送最多 500MW 电力。政府和低碳合同公司将作出决定，权衡消费者利益、能源安全和可持续性。
Drax’s subsidy contract for its biomass power runs from April 2027 to March 2031. It lets Drax ask to send up to 500MW to a data centre. The government and the Low Carbon Contracts Company would decide, weighing value for consumers, energy security and sustainability.
Gardiner 对彭博社表示：“这让我们进入了数据中心领域，而第二、三期将锁定 Drax 发电站作为英国能源体系一部分的未来 50 年。”
“This gets us into the data center space and phase two and three locks in the long term future of the Drax power station as part of UK energy system for another 50 years,” Gardiner told Bloomberg.
暂无客户 该项目首阶段仍需获得规划许可、监管及电网批准，还需确定租户，并由各合作伙伴做出最终投资决定。据彭博社报道，Radiant将在开工前寻找核心客户。Drax也正与电网运营商合作，将其原本用于输出电力的100兆瓦接入容量改作他用。
No customer yet The first phase still needs planning permission, regulatory and grid approvals, a tenant and a final investment decision from each partner. Radiant will look for anchor customers before construction starts. Drax is also working with the grid operator to repurpose its 100MW connection, which was built for exporting power, Bloomberg reported.
Drax预计公众咨询将于本月启动。合作伙伴计划设立一项自愿基金，用于支持周边社区。政府在合作伙伴的声明中对该计划表示欢迎。
Drax expects a public consultation to start this month. The partners plan a voluntary fund for nearby communities. The government welcomed the plan in the partners’ announcement.
“此类投资将有助于铺平英国再工业化新时代的道路，在约克郡创造优质就业岗位，并为全国各地带来增长，”财政部首席大臣艾玛·雷诺兹表示。
“Investments like this will help pave the way to a new age of British reindustrialisation, creating good jobs in Yorkshire and delivering growth right across the country,” said Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds.
据彭博社报道，漫长的电网排队已延误了英国其他数据中心项目。据报道，微软于10月退出了Nscale在英国的选址。
Long grid queues have delayed other UK data centre projects, Bloomberg reported. Microsoft reportedly quit Nscale’s UK site in October.
排放问题 Drax燃烧木屑颗粒发电，占英国电力供应的近5%。据《卫报》报道，分析师称其是英国单一最大的二氧化碳排放源。
The emissions question Drax burns wood pellets and makes almost 5% of the UK’s electricity. Analysts say it is the country’s single largest emitter of carbon dioxide, The Guardian reported.
英国不将这些排放计入统计，因为Drax声称重新生长的树木会吸收同等量的碳。政府已表示Drax未来将发挥“更为有限的作用”。据《卫报》报道，其补贴将在2027年至2031年间减半。
The UK does not count those emissions, because Drax says the trees that grow back absorb the same carbon. The government has said Drax will play a “much more limited role” in future. Its subsidies will be halved from 2027 to 2031, The Guardian reported.
据DatacenterDynamics报道，政府此前曾拒绝该选址的申请。北约克郡议会、约克大学和Drax曾提议在那里建设高达1.2吉瓦的AI增长区。英国目前也在讨论是否暂停新建数据中心。运营商称，电力和劳动力现已成为其瓶颈。
The government had rejected an earlier bid for the site, DatacenterDynamics reported. North Yorkshire Council, the University of York and Drax had proposed up to 1.2GW there as an AI Growth Zone. Britain is also debating whether to pause new data centres. Operators say power and labour are now their bottleneck.