Pembina Pipeline Corporation and its partners have officially approved the construction of a natural gas-fired power plant dedicated to supplying energy for a large-scale data centre. The decision, announced on July 2, 2026, represents a significant investment in energy infrastructure aimed at meeting the growing electricity demands of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
Project Details and Partners
The gas plant, named Greenlight, will be built in Alberta, Canada, and is designed to provide reliable, around-the-clock power to a hyperscale data centre. Pembina is collaborating with several undisclosed partners on the project, which is expected to begin construction later this year. The facility will have a capacity of approximately 300 megawatts, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes, but will be exclusively used for the data centre.
According to Pembina's CEO, the project addresses the critical need for stable energy sources as data centres proliferate. “This is a forward-looking investment that aligns with the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure,” he said in a statement.
Impact on AI and Energy Sectors
The data centre industry is under increasing pressure to secure reliable power, especially for energy-intensive AI training and inference workloads. Natural gas is seen as a bridge fuel that can provide baseload power while renewable sources like wind and solar are scaled up. The Greenlight plant will incorporate some carbon capture technology to mitigate emissions, though details on the percentage captured remain undisclosed.
Environmental groups have expressed concerns about locking in fossil fuel infrastructure for decades. However, project proponents argue that natural gas is necessary to prevent grid instability and support economic growth in the tech sector.
Economic and Regulatory Context
The project is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs and dozens of permanent positions. It has received support from the Alberta government, which is keen to attract data centre investments. Regulatory approvals are still pending, but the partners anticipate a streamlined review given the project's alignment with provincial energy strategies.
Pembina estimates the total cost of the plant at $1.2 billion, with the data centre being built separately by an unnamed technology company. The timeline for completion is 2028.
