The UK government has rejected a bid by York and North Yorkshire to become one of its AI Growth Zones. The bid centred on a 1.2GW hyperscale data centre on land around Drax Power Station near Selby. This was a rejection of the region’s application to the Growth Zone scheme, not a planning refusal. Drax says it still plans to seek planning permission for a separate, smaller data centre.
What was rejected
The York Press reported that the bid, led by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, had chosen Drax as the site for what the applicants called the “world’s first carbon-negative data centre”. Representatives said it had the potential to unlock £85 billion. According to the proposal, at least 1.2 GW of “renewable” energy would have been secured for the site, which would have been cooled with licensed river water. The plans were drawn up with Drax, North Yorkshire Council and the University of York, with the aim of protecting “up to 7,000 jobs”.
The government launched the AI Growth Zone scheme in 2025. Local areas could apply to become one of five UK regions that receive investment and planning powers to speed up data centre development.
A government spokesperson told the York Press that the plan had not met the scheme’s criteria, which include “credible plans for energy delivery, environmental considerations, and local economic benefit”. The spokesperson added: “All bids are assessed on their individual merits.”
The ‘carbon negative’ claim
“Carbon negative” is the applicants’ description, not an independent assessment. DatacenterDynamics reported that the applicants called the project the world’s largest “carbon negative data center”. It said the data centre would have been powered by Drax’s 2.58GW plant, the UK’s single largest generator. According to DCD, the applicants claimed carbon negativity would come from carbon capture and storage using chemical scrubbers built with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which they said would capture at least eight million tonnes of CO2 a year. DCD also cited the energy think tank Ember, which found that Drax emitted 14.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025.
The York Press reports that one representative said that, despite the plan’s sustainability promises, using Drax’s biomass would have made it “highly polluting”. The paper does not make clear which body that representative spoke for.
What happens next
A Drax spokesperson said that while the company was pleased to support the bid, it had “never relied” on its success. In a statement, Drax said: “Drax plans to submit its first phase 100 MW front-of-metre data centre to the planning authorities in the coming months and its successful progress could enable a data centre to come online before the end of this decade.” The York Press says this smaller scheme would draw power from the national grid. Drax also pointed to “our new support agreement with the government”.
The Combined Authority said the region remained “committed to driving the area’s growth”, and would focus on mayoral development zones in Scarborough, Selby and York. North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said: “While we were disappointed that the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority’s bid for an AI Growth Zone was not successful, we remain convinced that the region has the assets, ambition and partnerships needed to play a leading role in the future development of beneficial artificial intelligence.”
What this means
- The government turned down the region’s AI Growth Zone application. It did not refuse planning permission, and Drax’s separate 100 MW grid-connected plan is still due to go to planners in the coming months.
- The government’s stated criteria include credible energy plans and environmental considerations, but it has not published a detailed reason for this particular rejection.
- “Carbon negative” was the applicants’ claim. It depended on carbon capture at a plant that, according to Ember data cited by DCD, emitted 14.1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2025.
Sources
- York Press: Plans for 1.2 GW Drax data centre rejected by government
- DatacenterDynamics: UK gov’t rejects AI Growth Zone bid to power data center with Drax biomass plant
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