Wonder Valley, a data center campus backed by Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary and his company O’Leary Digital, is set to be built in the Greenview district, about 42 km south of Grande Prairie. The site is located on the traditional territory of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, which commissioned a preliminary analysis by physicist Robert Davies from Utah State University.
According to Davies’ evaluation, the site would include a 9 GW power plant. To operate it, fuel would need to be burned continuously at a rate of 16 to 18 GW, day and night, throughout the year. This would result in approximately 1.5 petajoules of energy being converted to heat on site every day, equivalent to about 23 Hiroshima bombs’ worth of energy daily.
Davies estimated the project would produce about 30 million tons of CO₂ emissions per year, accounting for over 4% of Canada’s total emissions. He noted that “les permis vérifient les pièces. Une évaluation vérifie l’ensemble.”
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In April, the Alberta government exempted the project from a provincial environmental impact assessment. The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation has since filed a judicial review application against this exemption and another application seeking more consultation. A court hearing is scheduled for December to address the water permit issue.
Paul Palandjian, CEO of O’Leary Digital, stated in an email that the company respects the regulatory process and will follow it to move the Wonder Valley project forward.
The Stratos project, valued at $100 billion and requiring 9 GW of electricity, was approved in Utah on May 4. The project has raised similar concerns about water usage, as residents in the area already face shortages.
