The premier of Nova Scotia says his government is not actively pursuing data centre projects, and he would only support such an endeavour if the province could fully supply the energy a data centre needs.
Data centres, used in artificial intelligence and other high-tech industries, are massive operations that require an immense amount of electricity to run and cool off computer servers.
Tim Houston told reporters Thursday there’s no active proposal to bring a data centre to Nova Scotia and it’s not a top priority for his government, but it’s something he’d be willing to discuss when the province’s major energy generation projects become fully operational.
“We’re going to produce a lot of energy in this province when Wind West is fully operational, with the gas opportunities we have, more of the onshore wind, we’re going to generate significant amounts of energy … at that point in time that would be a more appropriate discussion,” he said.
Houston’s ambitious Wind West project calls for building Canada’s first offshore wind farms at an enormous scale. The premier has said the province’s offshore wind potential is between 40 and 60 gigawatts, and the first phase of Wind West is estimated to cost $60-billion and produce five gigawatts of power by 2033.
“There wouldn’t be a commitment to a data centre unless we could fully supply the energy without any risk to Nova Scotians. It would only be something that would be done safely and would benefit Nova Scotians,” the premier said after a cabinet meeting Thursday.
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Environmental advocates have raised concerns about the massive volume of energy and water used by data centres. They’ve also warned about the potential for chemical pollution.
A recent United Nations University report says the environmental footprint of data centers globally already rivals some of the world’s largest countries. The report also predicts their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows.
Earlier this month, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew rejected plans for a massive AI data centre southeast of Winnipeg.
Kinew said the project’s size, energy use and community impact outweighed its limited gains. He said he was also skeptical of the long-term demand for centres of this scale given advances in computing.
“There’s a big threat to the environment and not much benefit to the economy,” he told reporters at the Manitoba legislature on June 4.
U.S.-based Jet. AI and Consensus Core Technologies, a British Columbia firm, were hoping to build a centre powered largely by natural gas turbines near Ile des Chênes.
Meanwhile, Alberta has embraced data centre development.
Electricity generator TransAlta Corp. announced plans in February to power a new data centre west of Edmonton.
The agreement includes an initial long-term power purchase agreement for about 230 megawatts of power, potentially growing to 1,000 megawatts.
This follows the provincial technology minister saying in 2024 that Alberta hopes to see $100 billion worth of artificial intelligence data centres under construction in the next five years.
In January, the government of British Columbia announced that it was launching a competitive selection process for artificial intelligence and data centre projects that would see companies fight over a set amount of power.
Companies that apply could gain access to a total of 400 megawatts of electricity over a two-year period.
In Nova Scotia, conversations about such moves will be left to the future, Houston said.
“Certainly people talk to me about: ‘well, Nova Scotia would be a great place for a data centre,’ but there’s never anything past that. It’s not a today thing, not even a tomorrow thing,” the premier said.
with files from The Associated Press
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