Alberta tech minister wants $100B in AI data centre infrastructure built over next 5 years
Data centres can require loads of electricity to operate, depending on their size
Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish says he’s hoping to see $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence data centres under construction within the next five years.
Such centres are filled with computer servers used by companies like Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, to develop and train large-scale artificial intelligence models.
These centres, depending on size, require loads of electricity to run.
In an interview, Glubish said Meta, as well as other major companies like Google and Amazon, are on the hunt for space, and he wants Alberta to be an option.
Glubish said,
That’s where the home run comes in, in terms of increased investment, increased jobs and increased economic activity,
He added that, through the government’s new data centre attraction strategy announced Wednesday, the government has created a “concierge program” to attract companies to Alberta.
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He said,
We’re already working with about a dozen companies that are looking very seriously at setting up a data centre in Alberta,
“We’re working with them to help identify the fastest way through the regulatory framework to get their projects moving forward.”
He said the ultimate goal is to create jobs and bring in much needed new tax revenue.
Glubish said since Alberta’s deregulated electricity market allows for off-grid power generation — permitting power generators to strike deals with private companies and supply them directly — the province is an ideal landing spot for many companies.
He said,
The key there is off-grid means no risk to the grid in terms of reliability and affordability,
“Make no mistake, we are not going to let anything happen that compromises affordability or reliability for Alberta’s electrical grid. That’s a no-go zone for Albertans.”
This past January, during an extreme cold snap, high demand and unexpected generation outages led the Alberta Electric System Operator to issue an emergency grid warning asking Albertans to conserve power to avoid rolling blackouts.
The operator reported that two days before the January grid warning, Alberta had hit a record level of power demand at 12,384 megawatts.
But Utilities Minister Nathan Neudorf told reporters Wednesday that Alberta’s electricity grid could handle data centres.
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Alberta tech minister wants $100B in AI data centre infrastructure built over next 5 years, source
