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Meta to Build First Canadian AI Data Center in Alberta, Powered by New Natural Gas Plant
Meta will build its largest data center outside the United States in Sturgeon County, Alberta. The project includes a dedicated natural gas power plant and local infrastructure spending. Euronews reported the announcement Wednesday.
Jul 9, 3:58 AM·1m read4 sources
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Meta will invest more than $9.1 billion to build its first artificial intelligence data center in Canada, Euronews reported. The facility will be the company's largest outside the United States and will be located in Sturgeon County, Alberta. The data center will draw power from the Greenlight Electricity Centre, a 932-megawatt natural gas-fired plant developed by a consortium that includes Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd.
The plant is expected to begin operating in the second half of 2030. The data center itself can scale to 1.8 gigawatts and has capacity equivalent to power for approximately 750,000 homes, with total investment reaching C$13 billion. Meta said the facility will use a closed-loop cooling system that will not draw water from surrounding sources.
The company also plans to invest $42 million in local infrastructure, including roads and water systems. " He stated that the province had created a regulatory framework to attract data center investment. Last week Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management announced they would proceed with the Greenlight Electricity Centre.
Meta was identified Wednesday as the customer for the plant.
