Drax: £20bn AI plan - a generational opportunity to reindustrialise the United Kingdom
This project could well be one of the largest investments ever into North Yorkshire. It would be a totemic example of reindustrialisation; the underscoring of this Government’s commitment to economic growth. It is an opportunity to create an example of the North of England not simply consuming Artificial Intelligence products, but defining them.
These are not the words of this newspaper, but those of Will Gardiner, the Chief Executive of Drax Group, the corporate entity that is behind this county’s powerhouse electricity plant.
To be clear, the £20bn number put against said this opportunity is more than a mere ambition; the announced partnership with AI-infrastructure business Radiant puts a down-payment on the plan. That shares in Drax rose 8.5 per cent in the wake of the announcement is further proof in the pudding that Drax, and the Government are serious.
To the credit of Mr Gardiner, whilst he did not explicitly reference the controversy that surrounds the burning of wood pellets at Drax – environmentalist campaigners and myriad independent investigations have cast serious doubts on the narrative that Drax is a sustainable way to produce power – in his words to this newspaper he did imply what might happen should dither and delay derail the project.
He said: “The UK is not the only possible destination for capital projets like this one. Others are competing for the same money. What gives investors confidence is projects being delivered quickly.”
It is a clear warning to civic, policy and business leaders that infrastructure of this kind will be built, no question. Investment will come and in the end investors will almost certainly profit handsomely. The question is: does the United Kingdom want to be at the forefront of the delivery of the next industrial revolution, shaping it and creating it – as we always have, or not?