A new natural gas-fired power plant is set to be operational in four years, serving Meta Platforms Inc.’s upcoming data centre north of Edmonton. Meta anticipates the $13 billion data centre will go live in the next two to three years without a precise timeline established. In the interim, Meta has the authorization to connect to Alberta’s grid before the Greenlight Electricity Centre commences operations and may engage other suppliers as necessary.
In 2021, Alberta’s grid operator reserved 1,200 megawatts of capacity until 2028 for significant projects like data centres to prevent strain on the province’s electrical infrastructure. Capital Power recently revealed a long-term energy supply deal for the Meta data centre, offering 250 megawatts of electricity by the latter half of 2028. The Greenlight Electricity Centre, a $4.6 billion venture involving Pembina Pipeline Corp., Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Kineticor Asset Management, is poised to generate 932 megawatts of power, with the potential for future expansion to double that capacity.
