Drax Group Plc shares hit a three-year high as investors see potential in UK utilities benefiting from the data center industry. RWE AG’s €225 million gain from a UK data center sale boosted optimism for converting former power sites. Barclays analysts estimate Drax’s site for data hosting could be worth £500 million.

Data centers drive global power demand growth, with the UK grid struggling to keep up. These facilities could consume a third of Britain’s peak demand. RWE’s deal valued the project at €1 million per megawatt of grid capacity, with similar projects across Europe valued similarly.

Drax plans to build a 100-megawatt data center at its biomass plant site by 2030 to diversify revenue. Shares rose 6% in London trading, reflecting investor excitement for utilities powering the AI and cloud computing boom. The move could help Drax adapt to operating less frequently under a new UK subsidy agreement.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Drax Shares Surge on Data Center Hopes