The Alberta Utilities Commission has rejected Synapse Real Estate Corp.’s application to construct a natural gas power plant to power a large proposed AI data centre campus in the small town of Olds, Alta.
Synapse had proposed a 10-building artificial intelligence (AI) data centre campus with 1.4 gigawatts of onsite natural gas power, as well as 1.8 gigawatts of diesel power for emergency use and backup. However, in its Aug. 17 rejection, the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) said the site for the natural gas plant was not “suitable.”
“The project is too close to the surrounding community, and Synapse failed to demonstrate any compelling justification for selecting that location,” the commission wrote, adding that “the site is simply not suitable for the proposed development.”…