Varcoe: The game 'is just getting started' — the pursuit of Alberta's $100B data centre dream revs up

Calgary Herald

5 days ago

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AESO officials said Monday they'll publish an update later this month with details on both Phase I — on proponents securing load contracts for the initial allocation — and for the future phase of the connection process.
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TransAlta, the province's largest generator, said in February it was working on data centre-related developments, initially considering offering 400 MW from one of its generating units at its Keephills power plant in the Wabamun Lake area, potentially followed by another 400 MW.
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It submitted its Keephills site to the AESO interconnection lineup.
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The Calgary-based company is moving toward executing a data centre memorandum of understanding in relation to its system capacity allocation, TransAlta CEO John Kousinioris said during the company's second-quarter earnings call.
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'We are very, very pleased with the progress that we're making and are confident in the project as we're envisioning it going forward,' he said.
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Edmonton-based Capital Power also has two massive proposals in the AESO connection lineup, representing 1,500 megawatts of load for potential data centres to be co-located at its Genesee Generating Station.
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However, the AESO's decision to limit large load connections in this first stage means a 1,000-megawatt project isn't viable and it's chosen not to pursue a scaled-down project at Genesee in Phase 1, CEO Avik Dey said on a recent earnings call.
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But in an interview, Dey noted Capital Power, as a large electricity producer, will continue to pursue the concept in the future.
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He pointed out Alberta has large supplies of natural gas that can support long-term electricity supply to help attract data centres, a transmission and distribution system that is well built out, and cooler temperatures that leads to lower consumption by such developments.
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'We are not taking a foot off the gas of establishing Genesee as a site for a large, hyper data centre. Phase 1 doesn't allow us to pursue it at the scale we need,' he said.
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'We want Phase 1 to be very successful for the government . . . We'll happily provide power to each and every one of them, but there's still this option for us to attract the large, hyper data centre.'
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Dey remains optimistic around the potential for data centres in Alberta, noting AESO was able to confirm this summer the province has 1,200 MW of available capacity in the short term it could earmark for such facilities that won't affect reliability and affordability for consumers.
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'If we can validate Alberta as a place for data centres to thrive, then I think we've got a high-class problem, which is now, how do we go capture the hyper data centre, how do we bring big tech into this province . . . I don't see in any scenario that we lose the opportunity,' Dey said.
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