A new natural gas-powered plant is set to be operational in four years in northern Edmonton to support Meta Platforms Inc.’s upcoming data center. Stacey Yip, a spokesperson for Meta, anticipates the data center, valued at over $13 billion, will be up and running within the next two to three years, although an exact timeline has not been confirmed yet.
While waiting for the Greenlight Electricity Centre to commence operations, Meta has been granted access to Alberta’s power grid and has the option to enter agreements with other energy providers as required.
Alberta’s grid operator allocated 1,200 megawatts of capacity for significant projects like data centers until 2028 to prevent strain on the province’s power system.
Capital Power recently disclosed a lengthy energy supply agreement for the Meta data center, ensuring 250 megawatts of electricity by the latter half of 2028.
The Greenlight Electricity Centre, valued at $4.6 billion and a collaboration between Pembina Pipeline Corp., Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Kineticor Asset Management, is expected to generate 932 megawatts of power, potentially doubling that capacity in the future.