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Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta said Wednesday it will invest more than $9.1 billion (€8.4bn) to build its first artificial intelligence data centre in Canada and its largest outside the United States.
The facility will be built in Sturgeon County, Alberta, and powered by a natural gas-fired plant being developed by a consortium that includes Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Ltd.
Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish called the project “a big deal for Alberta,” saying the province had created a regulatory framework to attract data centre investment.
Alberta has been courting hyperscale data centres as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure surges.
But the rapid growth of AI has fuelled concerns about the vast amounts of electricity and water such facilities require, as well as their strain on power grids and nearby communities.
Because Alberta’s electricity grid cannot support multiple large AI data centres, the province is prioritising projects that build or secure their own power generation, as Meta plans to do.
Meta said the data centre will use a closed-loop cooling system that will not draw water from surrounding sources. The company also plans to invest $42 million (€37m) in local infrastructure, including roads and water systems.
Last week, Pembina Pipeline, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Kineticor Asset Management announced they would proceed with the Greenlight Electricity Centre in Sturgeon County.
Meta was identified Wednesday as the customer. The 932-megawatt power plant is expected to begin operating in the second half of 2030.