Developers answered questions about a $4-billion data centre proposed near High River during an open house for the project on Dec. 11.
Beacon Data Centres develops hyper-scale cloud and AI computing centres and is working with Stantec, a consulting company, on a plan to bring a massive data centre to Foothills County.
Stantec hosted an open house at the Highwood Centre in High River. The project is slated for the east side of Highway 2, across from High River and within the Foothills Crossing Area Structure Plan (ASP).
The $4-billion data centre would include five two-storey buildings on a more than 260-acre parcel and create 300 jobs when operational, according to the developer.
Ellie Abootorabi, with Stantec, said there are currently no data centres in Alberta at that scale.
“We do not have a similar data centre in Alberta yet,” Abootorabi said.
Data centres are used to store and process information for applications like the cloud, and they house extensive computer systems.
“Companies that are developing a program, app or a game, they need that cloud system,” Abootorabi said.
She said the centre would use electricity from excess power in Alberta’s energy grid.
The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) estimates the project could use 400 MW of power, but that could change.
“We’re not that far yet in the engineering details,” Abootorabi said.
Data centres generate heat and need to be cooled, and Abootorabi said the development would use an air-cooling system.
“The air cooling is not going to use any water at all,” she said.
Stantec is currently seeking ASP and land-use amendments from Foothills County to allow the project to go forward.
A public hearing for the amendments could be held as early as late January.
If the amendments go ahead, development permits would be needed before construction can begin, Foothills County said.
The Government of Alberta is encouraging investment in data centres throughout the province.
Minister of Technology and Innovation Nate Glubish previously called Alberta a premier destination for large-scale data centres.
“Our competitive advantages around electricity, water, telecommunications and regulatory framework are unmatched in Canada and North America,” Glubish said.
