Meta building $9 billion data centre that will use electricity equal to 8 lakh homes
Meta is investing $9 billion in a massive AI data centre in Canada that will consume as much electricity as nearly 8 lakh homes. The announcement comes as tech giants face growing scrutiny over the energy and water demands of powering AI.
Meta is making another massive bet on AI, this time with a new data centre in Canada that highlights just how much power the AI boom now demands. The company has announced plans to build a C$13 billion (around $9.17 billion) data centre in Alberta, a facility that will use as much electricity as nearly 8 lakh homes.
Reuters reported that the project will be Meta's first data centre in Canada and its 33rd globally. The facility will be built in Sturgeon County with an initial capacity of 1 gigawatt, which can later be expanded to 1.8 gigawatts as demand for AI computing continues to grow.
The announcement comes as Meta is pouring billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. The company has been rapidly expanding its computing capacity to train and operate advanced AI models, joining other technology giants that are racing to build larger data centres to support the next generation of artificial intelligence.
AI growth is driving demand for more power and water
Meta's decision to build in Alberta was influenced by several factors. The province offers abundant natural gas supplies, lower energy costs compared to many regions, and a colder climate that helps reduce cooling expenses for large server farms. Alberta has also been actively trying to attract investments from major technology companies, with officials saying several more large-scale data centre proposals are currently under review.
"This is the first of its kind, the first of its size, the first of its scale, but it won't be the last," Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish said during the announcement.
One of the biggest talking points around the project is its electricity requirement. Meta said the facility will consume about as much power as 800,000 homes. To support the project, the company plans to pay for new power generation and upgrades to the electricity grid instead of relying entirely on existing infrastructure.
Meta has partnered with Alberta-based Pembina Pipeline, which is developing a natural gas-fired power plant in Sturgeon County. The plant is expected to begin operations later this decade and will eventually supply electricity to the data centre under a long-term agreement. Until then, Capital Power will provide 250 megawatts of electricity using its existing natural gas generation facilities.
The company says it will offset the electricity used by the site through investments in clean and renewable energy. It also said the facility will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system designed to recycle cooling liquid, reducing overall water consumption. According to Meta, the site's total water use will be lower than that of a typical golf course.
Despite those commitments, environmental groups have criticised the project, arguing that rapidly expanding AI infrastructure could place greater pressure on natural resources.
"We need a moratorium on mega-data centers until we have legislated environmental and human rights protections on AI," said Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada.
The concerns come at a time when technology companies are facing growing scrutiny over the environmental cost of AI. Separately, Amazon recently disclosed that its global data centre operations withdrew around 2.5 billion gallons of water during 2025.
The company said its direct water use fell by 2 percent compared with the previous year even as it expanded its global data centre footprint. Amazon added that its facilities used an average of 0.12 litres of water for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, which it says is better than the industry average.
To reduce pressure on drinking water supplies, Amazon said some of its data centres already use treated wastewater instead of fresh water. The company also noted that around 90 percent of the time its facilities rely on outside air to cool servers, switching to water-based cooling only during hotter periods.
Meta is making another massive bet on AI, this time with a new data centre in Canada that highlights just how much power the AI boom now demands. The company has announced plans to build a C$13 billion (around $9.17 billion) data centre in Alberta, a facility that will use as much electricity as nearly 8 lakh homes.
Reuters reported that the project will be Meta's first data centre in Canada and its 33rd globally. The facility will be built in Sturgeon County with an initial capacity of 1 gigawatt, which can later be expanded to 1.8 gigawatts as demand for AI computing continues to grow.
The announcement comes as Meta is pouring billions of dollars into AI infrastructure. The company has been rapidly expanding its computing capacity to train and operate advanced AI models, joining other technology giants that are racing to build larger data centres to support the next generation of artificial intelligence.
AI growth is driving demand for more power and water
Meta's decision to build in Alberta was influenced by several factors. The province offers abundant natural gas supplies, lower energy costs compared to many regions, and a colder climate that helps reduce cooling expenses for large server farms. Alberta has also been actively trying to attract investments from major technology companies, with officials saying several more large-scale data centre proposals are currently under review.
"This is the first of its kind, the first of its size, the first of its scale, but it won't be the last," Alberta Technology Minister Nate Glubish said during the announcement.
One of the biggest talking points around the project is its electricity requirement. Meta said the facility will consume about as much power as 800,000 homes. To support the project, the company plans to pay for new power generation and upgrades to the electricity grid instead of relying entirely on existing infrastructure.
Meta has partnered with Alberta-based Pembina Pipeline, which is developing a natural gas-fired power plant in Sturgeon County. The plant is expected to begin operations later this decade and will eventually supply electricity to the data centre under a long-term agreement. Until then, Capital Power will provide 250 megawatts of electricity using its existing natural gas generation facilities.
The company says it will offset the electricity used by the site through investments in clean and renewable energy. It also said the facility will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system designed to recycle cooling liquid, reducing overall water consumption. According to Meta, the site's total water use will be lower than that of a typical golf course.
Despite those commitments, environmental groups have criticised the project, arguing that rapidly expanding AI infrastructure could place greater pressure on natural resources.
"We need a moratorium on mega-data centers until we have legislated environmental and human rights protections on AI," said Keith Stewart of Greenpeace Canada.
The concerns come at a time when technology companies are facing growing scrutiny over the environmental cost of AI. Separately, Amazon recently disclosed that its global data centre operations withdrew around 2.5 billion gallons of water during 2025.
The company said its direct water use fell by 2 percent compared with the previous year even as it expanded its global data centre footprint. Amazon added that its facilities used an average of 0.12 litres of water for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed, which it says is better than the industry average.
To reduce pressure on drinking water supplies, Amazon said some of its data centres already use treated wastewater instead of fresh water. The company also noted that around 90 percent of the time its facilities rely on outside air to cool servers, switching to water-based cooling only during hotter periods.
