A new natural gas-powered plant is set to be operational in four years, located north of Edmonton, to support Meta Platforms Inc.’s upcoming data center. Meta anticipates the $13 billion data center will be operational within the next two to three years, although an exact timeline has not been confirmed. In the interim, Meta has secured the right to connect to Alberta’s power grid before the Greenlight Electricity Centre becomes operational, and may engage with other suppliers if necessary.
To accommodate large-load projects such as data centers, Alberta’s grid operator has reserved 1,200 megawatts of capacity until 2028 to prevent strain on the province’s electrical infrastructure. Capital Power recently announced a long-term energy supply agreement for the Meta data center, offering 250 megawatts of electricity by the second half of 2028.
The Greenlight Electricity Centre, a joint venture involving Pembina Pipeline Corp., Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, and Kineticor Asset Management, will generate 932 megawatts of power initially, with the potential for future expansion to double its capacity.