A new natural gas-fired power plant is set to be operational in four years in the vicinity of Edmonton, providing power to the upcoming massive data center being developed by Meta Platforms Inc. Meta’s spokesperson, Stacey Yip, anticipates the $13 billion-plus data center will go live within the next two to three years, although an exact timeline has not been finalized.
In the interim, Meta has obtained rights to connect to Alberta’s power grid before the Greenlight Electricity Centre commences operations and may engage with other suppliers if necessary. Last year, Alberta’s grid operator allocated 1,200 megawatts of capacity for significant load projects such as data centers until 2028 to ensure the province’s electrical infrastructure remains stable.
Capital Power recently announced a long-term energy supply contract for the Meta data center, providing 250 megawatts of electricity by the latter half of 2028. The Greenlight Electricity Centre, a $4.6 billion project established through a collaboration between Pembina Pipeline Corp., Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Kineticor Asset Management, is projected to generate 932 megawatts of power initially, with potential for future expansion to double the capacity.