After the AI boom, technology companies have increased their focus on data centres. Artificial intelligence requires huge computing power and advanced servers. Therefore, companies are building larger facilities to support growing AI workloads.
Now, Meta is developing a new AI data centre in Canada. The company will invest more than $9 billion in this project. The facility in Alberta will require electricity equal to nearly 8 lakh homes.
Canada Gets Meta’s First Data Centre With Massive Capacity
This marks Meta’s first data centre project in Canada. Furthermore, the new facility will become the company’s 33rd data centre globally.
The initial capacity of this Canadian data centre will reach 1 gigawatt. Later, Meta can increase the capacity to 1.8 gigawatts.
Alberta became the selected location because of several advantages. The region has sufficient natural gas availability and lower energy costs compared with other areas.
Moreover, Alberta experiences colder temperatures, which can reduce cooling expenses for large data centres. These factors make the location suitable for Meta’s AI infrastructure plans.
Huge Electricity Requirement Raises Environmental Concerns
The biggest discussion around this project focuses on electricity consumption. Meta confirmed that the facility will need power equal to 8 lakh homes.
For this requirement, the company has discussed covering power generation costs. Meta has also planned upgrades for the electricity grid.
However, environmental groups have started raising concerns about the project. They believe expanding AI infrastructure increases pressure on natural resources.
Additionally, data centres require large amounts of water along with electricity. Recently, Amazon revealed that its data centres used 2.5 billion gallons of water last year.
AI Growth Will Increase Global Power Demand
As AI data centres continue expanding, their electricity and water requirements will also rise. The International Energy Agency estimates a sharp increase in global data centre power usage.
By 2030, worldwide data centres may require around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually. This demand will exceed Japan’s total electricity consumption.
Furthermore, this projected usage will become double compared with today’s levels. The rapid growth of AI infrastructure is therefore creating new energy challenges.
