Plans submitted for data centre at Drax Power Station
A data centre could be built on land at Drax Power Station near Selby in North Yorkshire
Details of the proposal to erect two data centre buildings, totalling around 4,960 sq metres, have been submitted to North Yorkshire Council.
The application has been submitted by Drax Power Limited.
The centre would be built to the north of the power station on land currently used for storage.
As well as the data centre buildings, which would be 15m and three storeys high, the site would include a sprinkler plant room and tank, access roads, loading bays and parking.
Information on the proposed data centre has been included in a screening opinion aplication, which asks the council if an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was needed with the full planning application.
Supporting documents submitted with the application state: “It is considered that whilst the development is major in scale, the development would not result in such significant or complex effects on the environment as to warrant an EIA.
“The environmental effects of the proposed development are likely to be of local significance only and can therefore be fully assessed through a comprehensive suite of technical assessments and appropriately mitigated without the need for an EIA.”
The council has agreed and ruled that an EIA is not needed.
Data centres house computer equipment to store, process, and distribute data, from uses including websites, apps, cloud services and online banking.
The rise in the use of AI has resulted in an increased demand for new data centres with dozens being built across the country.
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