Pembina, partners greenlight $4.6 billion Alberta gas plant for data center

Pembina Pipeline Corp. and its partners have greenlit the Greenlight Electricity Centre, a $4.6 billion natural gas plant designed to power a data center. Located in Alberta's Industrial Heartland region north of Edmonton, the 932-megawatt facility is slated for a second-half 2030 startup. The companies also hold permits to potentially double the plant's capacity in the future.

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The Greenlight Electricity Centre serves as a perfect example of this approach. By having data centres bring their own generation and pay for related power infrastructure, this framework ensures that projects like this one will actually reduce transmission costs on Alberta’s utility bills.

This project directly addresses Alberta's strategy to attract major data center clients, such as Meta and Google. The province prioritizes projects that secure their own power generation due to current grid capacity limitations. Premier Danielle Smith highlighted the Greenlight centre as a prime example of this approach, emphasizing that data centers funding their own infrastructure will reduce transmission costs for Albertans.

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The agreement will allow Alberta to increase oil and gas production, secure more energy projects and attract billions of dollars in investment that will grow and diversify our economy for years to come.

Smith credited a recent energy accord between Ottawa and Alberta for enabling such investments. The agreement suspends federal clean electricity regulations, which Alberta had argued would increase costs and threaten grid reliability. "The agreement will allow Alberta to increase oil and gas production, secure more energy projects and attract billions of dollars in investment that will grow and diversify our economy for years to come," Smith said.

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Alberta’s focus on competitiveness, investment attraction and energy development has helped position the province as a destination of choice for major new industries and for long-term growth.

Scott Burrows, Pembina's CEO, praised Alberta's business environment, stating that the province's focus on competitiveness and investment attraction has made it a desirable location for new industries. "We're proud to be first movers in meeting Alberta’s large-scale data centre power needs and helping establish the infrastructure required to support this rapidly growing industry," he added.

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We’re proud to be first movers in meeting Alberta’s large-scale data centre power needs and helping establish the infrastructure required to support this rapidly growing industry.