A state-of-the-art data centre campus is expected to be commercially operational in the Town of Olds in the second half of next year.
Brent Williams, the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer, points out that Invest Olds is excited to make the announcement which will mark a boost to the community and the regional economy. Williams says “so Data District Inc. and their partner TNE (Technologies New Energy), they are are European-based builders and operators of data centres which – for lack of a better term – they process large amounts of computing data for various things, whether it be AI or other such things.”
He notes the Town of Olds has been approached frequently in the past year because Olds has a few advantages above a lot of other areas of rural Alberta. Williams highlights the fact that proximity to Calgary and Calgary’s airport, plus the fibre internet infrastructure which is here largely because of O-NET. He says “the proximity to natural gas. We are in a very productive natural gas zone as you can see by derricks and plants near and far. Natural gas is a big part of the province’s generation strategy for the large amounts of power required by these data centres. So we kind of checked a lot of boxes.” According to Williams, key anticipated impacts of this investment announcement include revenue benefits for the Town from franchise fees, as well as 70 direct full-time jobs by the end of 2026 plus the construction jobs.
The provincial government’s speech from the throne in October listed making Alberta not only an energy superpower but also becoming an artificial intelligence superpower as a priority. Williams says the Town of Olds and Town council have a responsibility to promote economic development and align with provincial priorities. He says “that certainly falls directly in line with our on-going work the last year with data centres, and AI data centres in particular and what you see announced is that we are towing the provincial line here and trying to make sure we are doing are part to support not just our local economy but the province itself.”
He points out that no property deal has been signed yet so the exact location of the data centre was not included in last week’s announcement. Williams adds, the developer did not feel comfortable revealing the location at this time, so he says the Town of Olds respected those wishes.
