Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
Pembina Pipeline Corp. and two partners have given the go-ahead to the Greenlight Electricity Centre, a natural gas plant serving a data centre customer.
Pembina, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management expect the cost of the project to come in at $4.6 billion. The 932-megawatt plant would be built in Sturgeon County, part of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland region north of Edmonton, with startup targeted for the second half of 2030. The companies have permits that would allow them to double capacity down the line.
Data centres house the computer hardware required to power various tech applications, and their scale has ballooned with the boom in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The province and companies did not identify the data centre customer they’re serving.
Alberta has been actively trying to court so-called hyperscale developers, like Meta and Google, to set up shop in the province, but its electricity grid currently does not have enough capacity to accommodate several such projects. So Alberta is prioritizing projects that build or contract their own power generation.
“The Greenlight Electricity Centre serves as a perfect example of this approach,” Premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference Thursday.
“By having data centres bring their own generation and pay for related power infrastructure, this framework ensures that projects like this one will actually reduce transmission costs on Alberta’s utility bills.”
Smith cites energy accord
Such an investment would not have been possible without a sweeping energy accord signed in November between Ottawa and Alberta, Smith said. Among other things, the two governments agreed to suspend federal clean electricity regulations, which Alberta had contended would drive up costs and undermine reliability of a grid largely dependent on natural gas.
“The agreement will allow Alberta to increase oil and gas production, secure more energy projects and attract billions of dollars in investment that will grow and diversify our economy for years to come,” Smith said.
Scott Burrows, Pembina’s CEO, said Alberta has created the conditions for projects like Greenlight to move forward.
“Alberta’s focus on competitiveness, investment attraction and energy development has helped position the province as a destination of choice for major new industries and for long-term growth,” he said.
“We’re proud to be first movers in meeting Alberta’s large-scale data centre power needs and helping establish the infrastructure required to support this rapidly growing industry.”
Concerns around pollution, noise
Some communities in Canada and the United States have raised concerns about pollution and noise from data centre developments, especially those with a gas plant component. Smith said Greenlight will be built in an area where industrial development has been well accepted for decades.
“I think the closest home is some kilometres away from where this natural gas plant is going to be.”
WATCH | Supersized data centres are coming to Canada, with Alberta at the epicentre:
Supersized data centres are coming to Canada, with Alberta at the epicentre
Data centres have long been under-the-radar for many Canadians, but that’s about to change as bigger projects come online — driving up concerns about the land, water and energy they consume. And Alberta may see the biggest impact with available energy, streamlined regulations and open arms by the government.
The Pembina Institute — a clean-energy think tank unrelated to the energy company — said in a news release that the Greenlight Energy Centre represents a missed opportunity to power data centres with lower-cost renewables as the cost of gas-fired power soars.
“As it stands, Alberta’s ‘bring your own generation’ rules around data centres have a fundamental flaw: they essentially exclude all options for generation other than gas-fired power,” said David Pickup, who directs the group’s electricity program.
“While a project like Greenlight could not have been run solely on renewable energy, it would certainly have benefited from a mix of energy sources to help offset the environmental impacts and costs associated with gas.”