Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish made a bold prediction two weeks ago at the Global Energy Show that’s worth remembering.

He told the audience that Alberta could see massive gigawatt-scale data centre announcements being rolled out later this summer.

There are growing signs and tantalizing puzzle pieces it may happen sooner than later, potentially involving a large hyperscaler and billions of dollars of investment.

The day after Glubish spoke at the conference, the provincial government passed an order-in-council.

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It allows a little-known company to acquire lands in Sturgeon County, north of Edmonton, “for the purpose of constructing or operating a natural gas-fired turbine electricity generation plant to operate an adjacent data centre.”

A provincial cabinet minister said Monday it is connected to a proposed power generation development, known as Project Greenlight, that could help provide electricity to data centres.

On Friday, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) approved an application by Greenlight Electricity Centre GP to build and operate a 1,864-megawatt power-generation facility in Sturgeon County, about 35 kilometres north of Edmonton.

The AUC decision says the plant will supply “electric power to the province and to supply data centres.”

A final investment decision on Project Greenlight was targeted by Pembina Pipeline Corp. before the end of June for its proposed initiative.

The company is working on the development with its partner, Kineticor Asset Management. The two Calgary-based firms have previously discussed the proposed project in Sturgeon County, with a power generating capacity of up to about 1,800 megawatts, or 1.8 gigawatts (GW).

Speaking on the sidelines of an energy conference earlier this month, Pembina Pipeline CEO Scott Burrows confirmed the expected timing of a final investment decision (FID).

First round of Alberta's data centre push could raise electricity prices, analysts say

Varcoe: Alberta to see solid economic growth amid turbulence this year, while new manufacturing and energy projects advance

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