Do AI data centres have a PR problem? A look inside a ‘sustainable’ high-tech facility

Outside, the unassuming warehouse-like building is silent.

You’d drive by CAL-2, the largest operating data centre in the Calgary area, in an industrial park northeast of the city, without ever realizing it has 26 megawatts of power capacity to run what’s inside — enough electricity for roughly 26,000 homes.

In its depths, having passed through several hallways and doors, one of its data halls is buzzing loudly from the hum of computer servers that host cloud computing (online space that stores files and other data) for some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Over the past year, as demand for artificial intelligence has soared with the evolution of generative AI, so has the federal government and Alberta’s interest in capitalizing on the AI boom by building data centres like CAL-2.

But there’s a disconnect between the province and industry’s ambitions, and ordinary Albertans who are hesitant to agree to data centres without understanding what they’re getting into, said Sabrina Perić, an associate professor in the department of anthropology and archaeology at the University of Calgary.

On the one hand, you have companies like eStruxture, the Montreal-based operator of CAL-2. Vice-president Taylor Hammond said the company has big ambitions to grow in Alberta. It’s already begun building CAL-3, a 90-megawatt AI data centre that will have more than three times the power capacity of CAL-2, also in Rocky View County.

“The Alberta market has a cool climate. It has access to power. It has access to … both tradespeople for construction as well as skilled data centre operators,” he said.

On the other hand, you have Rocky View County's council, which in September voted 6-1 to reject a plan for an AI data centre complex (which would have been operated by eStruxture), citing concerns about its proposed location and potential impacts on neighbouring farmers.

“I think data centres do have a public perception problem, and I think there are many Albertans who are beginning to realize not only the question of where is the power coming from for these data centres … but I think the other big question is water,” said Perić.

In an interview with CBC News at CAL-2, Hammond said the industry is being “painted with a broad brush.” That perception, he said, may come from other data centre providers who consume a lot of water and power, and create noise or drive up electricity rates for those near the facilities.

“If you take a look at the site that we're sitting in today, you'll notice that it's quiet, it's clean, it's not consuming water," said Hammond.

Data centres have been criticized for their massive water usage, primarily because of the liquid cooling systems many facilities use to keep servers from overheating.

Mid-sized data centres can consume more than one million litres of water a day for cooling purposes, according to a U.S.-based study from June. That's equivalent to the daily water use of 1,000 households. Often, it’s potable water drawn from municipal utilities.

But a centre like CAL-2 doesn’t use any water in its cooling system, according to Hammond. The building instead relies on air cooling, which in the winter can mean pulling in the cold Alberta air. The only water this facility uses is for sanitation and humidification, Hammond said.