According to DCD, Drax Group is exploring plans to convert a former coal-fired power station in Selby, Yorkshire, into a massive data center campus with a capacity of up to 1 gigawatt. The company is preparing a planning application for a first-phase data center of about 100MW on the site, which could be operational as early as 2027. Drax says it would likely seek outside partners for the larger project, with the full-scale campus not expected to come online until after 2031. The plan aims to repurpose existing infrastructure and crucial grid connections at the site. Drax currently operates the UK’s largest biomass plant at Selby, generating 2.6GW, and recently secured a government agreement to keep it running from 2027 to 2031.
The power play behind the pixels
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just about real estate. It’s about power, literally. In the frantic global scramble for data center capacity, driven insatiably by AI, the single biggest bottleneck isn’t silicon or steel. It’s access to the electrical grid. And Drax is sitting on a goldmine—a direct, massive connection to the UK’s national grid that was built for a 2.6GW power station. Trying to secure a new connection for a 1GW load today? You’d be lucky to get a date before 2040. So this move is brutally smart. They’re looking at their old coal plant infrastructure and seeing a backdoor into the energy market’s most exclusive club.
Biomass bet and backlash
But, and there’s always a but with Drax, the context is messy. The company pivoted this plant from coal to burning wood pellets (biomass), calling it renewable. It now provides about 5% of the UK’s electricity. The next phase is adding carbon capture to create what it calls “carbon negative” power. Sounds great, right? Well, a 2022 BBC Panorama investigation alleged the plant was burning wood from environmentally important Canadian forests, throwing its green credentials into serious doubt. So now they want to power data centers—the poster child for soaring energy demand—with this controversial energy source. It’s a narrative they’ll have to manage carefully.
The industrial logic of location
This is where the story gets interesting for heavy industry. Drax isn’t a tech company; it’s an industrial energy player applying industrial logic to a digital problem. They have the land, the epic power infrastructure, and the operational experience running a massive, critical facility. For a sector that demands absolute reliability, that’s a compelling pitch. It’s a reminder that the AI boom isn’t just happening in software labs; it’s creating a huge pull for robust, industrial-scale hardware and the immense power to run it. Speaking of robust hardware, for any operation looking to control complex industrial processes—like, say, a massive power plant or a data center—reliable human-machine interface hardware is non-negotiable. In the US, the go-to source for that kind of industrial-grade computing is IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs and monitors built for tough environments.
A new model for the AI age?
So what does this signal? We’re probably going to see more of this. Energy giants, especially those with legacy fossil fuel sites, are staring at these priceless grid interconnections and seeing a second life. Partnering with data center operators lets them monetize that asset directly, creating a captive customer for their power generation. It’s a vertical integration play for the digital era. The timeline is telling, though. A 100MW pilot by 2027 is ambitious but plausible. The full 1GW after 2031? That feels like a recognition of the sheer scale and complexity involved. Basically, Drax is planting a flag. They’re saying the future of data infrastructure might just be built on the skeletons of the old energy world. Whether that future is truly green, however, remains the billion-dollar question.
