There’s progress being made at Meta’s $13-billion data centre in Sturgeon County, the company’s first such facility in Canada. Aerial photos taken of the site indicate that much of the area has already been excavated and new roads have been built to handle construction vehicles. Sturgeon County approved the project in July and Meta has been working closely with Greenlink Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capital Power and the Alberta Energy System Operator (AESO) to plan for the facility’s energy needs. At first, it will be supported through public power, but a dedicated natural gas plant is also being constructed and should take over by 2030. The province says that system will harness Alberta’s abundant natural resources. “We have one of the largest natural gas reserves in the world,” said Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish on Wednesday. “This is an opportunity for us to get that to a global market, and these project proponents are basically saying if we can get electricity, then that’s a good jurisdiction for us.” The Sturgeon County data centre should be completed by 2028. AESO is expected to release a long-term plan on powering data centres in the fall.
