EverWind Fuels announced a $10 billion data centre and wind-power development at Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, on 16 October, a project that would be the province’s largest private investment, SaltWire reported.
Key points
- The first 95-megawatt data centre is targeted to operate in late 2027.
- An AI developer has contracted for 100 per cent of the first stage’s capacity.
- The plan includes 650 megawatts of wind generation and a 200-megawatt battery bank.
Point Tupper’s 95-megawatt first stage
Construction has begun on the first stage at EverWind’s Point Tupper site. The planned 95-megawatt data centre would occupy a 200,000-square-foot warehouse and is targeted to begin operating in late 2027. A second stage, targeted for mid-2028, would bring capacity to 325 megawatts. The planned campus has a full capacity of 420 megawatts.
An AI developer has contracted for 100 per cent of the first stage’s capacity, SaltWire reported. The publication said the developer was expected to issue a news release late on 16 October. That contract covers the first stage of a campus whose later capacity is still planned.
EverWind had described data centres at Point Tupper as a possibility earlier in October. On 5 October, Data Center Dynamics reported that the company was exploring a development alongside its green fuels project. The $10 billion announcement gives that proposal a capacity plan and operating targets, alongside the contracted first-stage capacity.
The company acquired the former fuel terminal at Point Tupper from NuStar Energy in 2022 and is backed by asset manager Nuveen through its energy infrastructure credit unit. Its separate green fuels project received environmental assessment approval in 2023. That project is expected to produce approximately 200,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year using new renewable generation, with its first phase potentially operating as soon as 2029.
Membertou consortium’s 650-megawatt wind supply
The data centre plan calls for 650 megawatts of wind generation from 80 turbines across northeastern Nova Scotia. A Mi’kmaq consortium led by Membertou First Nation will own 51 per cent of that generation. The wind projects have received environmental assessment approvals, and construction is under way on some of them.
EverWind’s first wind portfolio includes the Bear Lake, Windy Ridge, Kmtnuk and Upper Afton projects. Those projects are expected to come online around 2028 and connect directly to Nova Scotia’s power grid. EverWind is also developing a separate group of wind farms intended to connect to its fuels plant by a transmission line across the Strait of Canso.
The data centre development includes a 200-megawatt battery storage bank. EverWind staff said at a technical briefing that the project would meet or exceed federal and provincial data centre guidelines and would not add costs for electricity ratepayers, SaltWire reported.
Landrie Lake water for Point Tupper
Landrie Lake will supply water to the data centre. EverWind already holds permits to draw from the lake, and the facility is planned to use a closed-loop cooling system. Average water requirements are put at 100,000 litres a day in the first stage and 500,000 litres a day at full operation.
Existing use across the Point Tupper Industrial Park totals 6.5 million litres a day. EverWind puts the lake’s daily safe yield at 34 million litres and says the data centre’s use would amount to about one per cent of that figure.
The development is estimated to support 2,000 jobs during construction and 215 full-time positions once the data centre and wind farms are operating.
