- Meta crosses the border to build a data center in Alberta, Canada
- The data center will have a capacity of 1 GW and will cost $9 billion to build.
- It will eventually generate 300 operational jobs, Meta says.
Meta has announced its ambition to build a $9 billion data center in Alberta, Canada, with a capacity of 1 GW.
The project, which was announced in a Meta blog post, will be built outside of Edmonton in Sturgeon County, and construction is expected to take two to three years.
Meta says the data center will support around 3,000 jobs during construction and then 300 operational jobs when the data center is up and running.
1 GW AI-optimized data center
In addition to the data center, Meta has announced that it will improve local infrastructure with C$60 million in roads and water services. The project will also see its electricity use combined with “100% clean and renewable energy,” with Meta covering all costs of data center energy use.
“This specific location met the factors we typically look for: good access to infrastructure, a strong electrical grid and energy access, a deep talent pool, and a great set of community partners who helped us move this project forward,” a Meta spokesperson said. CNBC.
The project marks Meta’s first data center initiative in Canada and will join a fleet of 32 other Meta campuses around the world. Alberta was also chosen because of its lenient regulatory environment, which allowed construction to be approved with a comparatively small amount of preliminary work.
Meta also hopes to “plan and meet our energy needs years before this data center comes online” by working with Canadian energy utilities such as Greenlight Limited Partnership, Altalink, Capitol Power and the Alberta Electricity System Operator.
Meta’s AI capability offerings come relatively late compared to industry leaders like Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft, prompting it to embark on aggressive expansion in the US and elsewhere.
Meta is also reportedly venturing into the cloud computing industry by selling excess capacity in some of its completed AI data centers to offset construction costs. Meta predicted it would spend between $125 and $145 billion on artificial intelligence and data centers in 2026.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds.
