Data District, a division of Swiss management holding Alcral AG, has joined forces with Technologies New Energy Plc (TNE) to create several data storage facilities in western Canada. The initial stage of the €780 million undertaking, revealed in December, encompasses building a location in Olds, approximately an hour north of Calgary.
Nevertheless, looking ahead, the strategy entails considerably larger expenditures: ultimately, the group intends to establish data centers boasting a combined capacity of 1 gigawatt, stated Data District CEO Carlos Caldos.
Alberta, the epicenter of Canada’s energy sector, is presenting itself as a desirable spot for AI-driven computing strength due to its abundant and inexpensive natural gas assets.
“We contemplated Texas as a component of our North American blueprint, but resolved to concentrate the bulk of our resources on Alberta,” Kaldos conveyed in an email. He mentioned that the company was particularly impressed by the province’s method of conducting business and fostering data centers.
Should it be fully realized, the data center endeavor will stand as one of the most substantial ongoing investment initiatives in the province. The primary phase includes erecting data centers and will be bankrolled by Alcral and a British entity. Kaldos also pointed out that the initiative has garnered interest from sovereign investors from Asia.
The declaration of the venture surfaces roughly a month after Alberta’s Conservative Premier Danielle Smith inked a memorandum of understanding with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that paved the way for a succession of energy projects. The federal administration committed to ease clean electricity regulations and emission thresholds that Alberta contended were hindering the energy domain. In exchange, the province vowed to elevate the price of carbon emissions for industry and fortify the carbon trading framework. As part of the agreement, the federal government additionally pledged to bolster the construction of a new oil conduit, carbon sequestration undertakings, and data centers.
“I believe Alberta possesses the advantage of possessing gas, and it’s our own gas, and presently the government is promoting it for data centers,” TNE CEO Julio Perez conveyed in an interview. The Data District venture will generate 80 percent of its own electricity from natural gas, he declared, and will depend on the power grid for merely 20 percent. That partial reliance on the power grid will likely subject the company to the province’s proposed equipment levy.
Although the data center venture has yet to attract definitive clientele, the need for computing aptitude is adequate to intrigue several clients simultaneously, stated Perez, whose firm is situated in the Portuguese city of Porto. “There was no need to have executed contracts for the location or utilization of the capacity beforehand. The funding is already guaranteed,” he emphasized.
Source: Bloomberg