Kevin O’Leary wants to build natural gas-powered AI data centre in Alberta

Kevin O’Leary and the Municipal District of Greenview in Alberta are partnering to create natural gas and geothermal power infrastructure that the team says will power the world’s largest AI data centre industrial park.

O’Leary and company have signed a letter of intent to purchase thousands of acres of land within and to the south of the Greenview Industrial Gateway (GIG).  The team is calling the project Wonder Valley and will roll it out in multiple stages. While the press release doesn’t go into great detail about what these stages are or when they begin, it does make sure to highlight that it will create thousands of jobs and generate significant tax revenue for Alberta.

It’s worth noting that there has been a large push lately to make green data centres since they draw huge amounts of energy. A report from the government’s energy regulation website claims that worldwide, data centres draw the same amount of energy as 71 percent of Canada and that it will likely double by 2026. Canada has long been a draw to data centre companies because provinces like Quebec and B.C. mainly use hydroelectricity, which is considered greener than most other forms of traditional electricity generation, and its abundance makes electricity relatively cheap in Canada.

The new project from O’Leary leans the opposite way, and since he’s known as a shrewd business person, I expect that he’s doing this more to take advantage of Alberta’s low tax rate. On top of that, the province has been pushing harder to convince data centres to set up shop since this summer so I expect there are other deals behind the scenes to help entice Wonder Valley to the province.

“My joint venture team led by Paul Palandjian, CEO O’Leary Ventures, and Carl Agren, CEO, HPC and AI Data Centres, has sourced what we believe is the most compelling site in all North America to generate and offer 7.5 GW of low-cost power to hyperscalers over the next 5-10 years. Given existing permits, proximity to stranded sources of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure, water and a fiber optic network within just a few kilometers of the Greenview Industrial Gateway, we will be in the ground and up and running sooner than any scale project of its kind,” said Kevin O’Leary, Chairman of O’Leary Ventures in a press release.

He follows that up by saying, “The GIG’s ideal cold-weather climate, a highly skilled labor force, Alberta’s pro-business policies and attractive tax regime make the GIG the perfect site for this project. We want to deliver transformative economic impact and the lowest possible carbon emissions afforded to us by the quality of gas in the area, our efficient design and the potential to add Geothermal power as well. Together, these factors create a blueprint for sustainability and success that can be recognized worldwide. This is the Greenview Model.”

If you want to watch a very cringy AI-generated commercial for the project, you can check out the Wonder Valley website as well.

Header image credit: Screenshot from O’Leary Ventures’ AI-generated Wonder Valley video.

Source: O’Leary Ventures