Alberta
Canadian oil and gas province; proposed site of Kevin O'Leary's 7.5 GW Wonder Valley BYOP data centre campus.
Last refreshed: 26 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Alberta
Mentioned in: xAI wins 41 gas turbines for Colossus
Data Centres: Boom and Backlash- Why is Alberta considered a good location for data centres?
- Alberta has abundant cheap natural gas, low land costs, and a deregulated electricity market, making it attractive for BYOP data centre development. Kevin O'Leary's proposed $70 billion Wonder Valley campus cited these advantages.Source: Lowdown data-centres briefing
Background
Alberta is Canada's primary oil and gas producing province, with abundant and relatively affordable electricity from a mix of gas, wind, and coal-to-gas converted generation. It has attracted attention in 2025-2026 as a potential location for large-scale data centre development, most prominently through Kevin O'Leary's proposed $70 billion Wonder Valley BYOP campus.
Alberta's Energy infrastructure makes it well-suited to BYOP data centre development: natural gas is abundant and cheap, land costs are low, and the province has experience managing large-scale industrial generation. The provincial electricity market, operated by the Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO), is competitive and deregulated, giving large industrial customers flexibility to build onsite generation.
Canada's federal carbon pricing system applies in Alberta, creating cost uncertainty for gas-intensive BYOP operations over a multi-decade investment horizon. The federal government's Clean Electricity Regulations aim to decarbonise the grid by 2035, which would affect the economics of long-lived gas turbine assets.