Two 200MW Siemens turbines already procured.
The Woodland Cree First Nation (WCFN) is planning to develop a 650MW data center in Alberta, Canada.
Canadian ‘First Nations’ are indigenous peoples who do not belong to the Inuit or Metis. The WCFN, like other First Nations, possesses some degree of self-governance.
Mihta Askiy Datacenter, a company majority-owned by the Woodland Cree, will acquire a partially complete power plant, its associated land, and equipment. This will be repurposed and combined with a data center.
The exact location of the facility is unclear, but the WCFN said on Facebook that the data center would be built on “the existing disturbed area that was part of the Carmon Creek project.” This refers to the construction of an oil sands processing plant that was scrapped by multinational oil giant Shell in 2015.
The WCFN also stated that the site is located near natural gas supplies, reservoirs for carbon capture and storage, fiber optic networks, and water supplies.
With an estimated membership of 1,032 people as of 2016, the WCFN is made up of four reserves in northern Alberta. These are Cadotte Lake, Simon Lake, Golden Lake, and Marten Lake. Alberta is a province located in western Canada.
Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom of the WCFN said: “As a majority partner, our Nation is advancing economic reconciliation through meaningful participation in the energy and digital infrastructure sectors. This initiative exemplifies our roles as stewards of the land, and as forward-looking leaders in innovation.”
The facility will be powered by natural gas, and the WCFN has said that two 200MW Siemens turbines have already been procured. Power generation is anticipated in mid-2027.
The project will see involvement from developer Sovereign Digital Infrastructure, law firms Cassels Brock and Blackwell, and Latham and Watkins, investment bank Eastdil Secured, and energy technology firm Siemens Energy Canada.
Alberta is becoming attractive to data center operators because of its supply of natural gas. The province produces more than half of Canada’s natural gas, reaching 11.2 billion cubic feet per day in 2023, the highest since 2010. Several data center operators, including Pine Cliff Energy and Gryphon Digital Mining, have signed agreements to acquire a natural gas supply.
This growing demand has led Alberta Electric System Operator, the operator of the province’s electricity grid, to launch an interim plan to connect up to 1.2GW of data centers by 2028.
