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Verified project profile

Keephills Data Centre Development

TransAlta, CPP Investments, and Brookfield propose a data centre at Keephills, starting at about 230 MW and potentially growing to 1 GW. Land-use changes allow a proposal to move forward, but do not approve the buildings. The reviewed sources do not confirm a construction start, final water needs, or noise levels at nearby homes.

TransAlta / CPP Investments / Brookfield
How to read this profilePublic recordProponent statementProponent projectionADCW context

Project facts

Core scale, approval, employment, and schedule information, labelled by the type of evidence available.

Proponent statement

Who is behind it?

TransAlta, CPP Investments, and Brookfield

TransAlta would provide the land and power. A future data-centre operator or customer has not been confirmed in the reviewed sources.

Sources [5]
Proponent projection

How large could it become?

Up to 1 GW, if expansion proceeds

The July company filing still describes a conditional agreement, not a final commitment to build the full project.

Sources [6]
ADCW context

Where would the buildings go?

Final layout not confirmed

The map marks the Keephills industrial area, not an approved building location or campus boundary.

Sources [1]
ADCW context

When would it open?

No confirmed opening date

Grid-planning dates below are not a construction or operating schedule.

Sources [3], [4]

Energy and emissions

The first stage has a grid-load contract. The larger figures describe requests and possible expansion, not electricity already being used.

Important distinction: Do not add 230 MW, 861 MW, and 1 GW. The 230 MW is part of the 861 MW requested from the grid operator. The 1 GW, or 1,000 MW, is a possible total development size. These are different descriptions of the same proposal, not separate projects.
Public record

First-stage grid allocation

230 MW under a signed load contract

AESO, Alberta's grid operator, lists P3083 in its completed first allocation round. The project must still complete the connection process.

Sources [2]
Public record

All three grid requests

861 MW requested in total

August list: P3083 has 230 MW at Stage 2; P3095 has 466 MW at Stage 2; P3152 has 165 MW at Stage 1. These are connection-process stages, not construction stages.

Sources [3]
Public record

Dates in the grid list

2027 and 2028 for the first 230 MW

P3083 is split into 115 MW dated January 1, 2027, and 115 MW dated March 27, 2028. P3095 and P3152 have dates under review. None is a guaranteed opening date.

Sources [3]
ADCW context

The power station already on site

861 MW of existing gas generation

This is a separate figure from the grid requests. TransAlta has not confirmed that all this power would serve the data centre. ADCW does not count it as newly proposed generation.

Sources [7], [5]
ADCW context

Electricity use and air emissions

Project-specific totals not published

The final supply design and backup generators are not confirmed. Capacity alone does not establish annual electricity use or emissions.

Sources [6], [4]

Water

The unanswered question is how much water this project would need, and where it would come from. Existing water infrastructure does not establish an allocation for the data centre. [5]

ADCW context

How would the servers be cooled?

Cooling design not confirmed

The reviewed project disclosures do not establish whether cooling would consume water or how much it would need.

Sources [5], [4]
ADCW context

Water available to this project

No project allocation verified

TransAlta points to existing water infrastructure. That does not confirm the data centre's water source, permitted volume, or effects on other users.

Sources [5]
ADCW context

Water leaving the site

Wastewater and drainage plans not confirmed

It is not yet clear how used water, rainwater, or snowmelt would be handled.

Sources [4]

Noise

There are no verified project-specific sound predictions here to show what neighbours might hear. That gap is not evidence that the project would be quiet.

ADCW context

What could neighbours hear?

Predicted sound levels not found

The reviewed sources do not provide a project-specific noise study or numerical predictions at nearby homes.

Sources [1], [4]
ADCW context

Noise controls

Final measures not confirmed

Equipment choices, sound barriers, and operating limits have not been verified. Their effectiveness cannot be assessed without a design and study.

Sources [4]

Indigenous context

Data centre projects sit within treaty territories and places with longstanding First Nations and Métis connections. This section brings together the public record on treaty geography, Indigenous ownership, consultation, and community concerns. Treaty boundaries alone cannot tell us which communities may be affected or how they view a project.

ADCW context

Treaty geography

Treaty 6 territory

This describes location, not consent or any Nation's position on the proposal.

Sources [8]
ADCW context

Project-specific Indigenous engagement

Outcomes not confirmed

The reviewed project disclosures do not establish participating Nations, concerns, agreements, or consultation outcomes.

Sources [4]

Approval and public process

Permission to use land for a data centre is different from permission to build one. The site plan and development permit are still separate decisions.

Public record

What has Council approved?

Land-use changes, not the buildings

Council passed the planning amendments on September 4, 2025. A master site development plan and development permit are still required.

Sources [1]
Public record

Has a development application arrived?

Not according to the County's posted status

The page was last updated March 4, 2026, and checked August 31. It still says no development-stage applications have been received; this is not a new August statement from the County.

Sources [1]
Public record

How can residents take part?

Watch for site-design and permit notices

The County says it will post application materials and engagement opportunities on its project page. No new meeting date or comment deadline was found.

Sources [1]

Timeline

Observed decisions and future dates are kept distinct; projected milestones may change.

  1. Public record

    Council approved the land-use and planning changes. [1]

  2. Proponent statement

    TransAlta announced the development framework with CPP Investments and Brookfield, signed the previous day. [5][6]

  3. Proponent statement

    TransAlta's quarterly filing still described development as conditional on approvals and final agreements. [6]

  4. Public record

    AESO's published list showed three related requests totalling 861 MW, with dates for two requests under review. [3]

What we still don't know

Some details have not been made public or remain unresolved. We keep those gaps visible and update them when reliable information becomes available.

  • Final business agreements, customers, a construction start, and an opening date have not been confirmed.
  • The approved building layout, total building area, and permit conditions are not available in the reviewed sources.
  • The full power-supply plan, new equipment, and project-specific annual emissions remain unclear.
  • Water demand, supply permission, and wastewater arrangements have not been confirmed.
  • Predicted noise at nearby homes and final noise-control measures were not found.

Source record

Primary and official sources reviewed for this profile. Company disclosures support what the company said, not independent verification of future outcomes.

  1. TransAlta Data Centre Application: approvals and next steps

    Parkland County · Municipal record · Updated 2026-03-04; checked 2026-08-31

  2. Large Load Projects: Phase 1 allocation to P3083

    Alberta Electric System Operator · Regulator · Checked 2026-08-31

  3. August 2026 Connection Project List: P3083, P3095, and P3152

    Alberta Electric System Operator · Regulator · 2026-08-05; rows 105, 171, and 185

  4. Proposed data centre development: community update

    TransAlta · Company disclosure · Undated; checked 2026-08-31

  5. Keephills development agreement with potential to scale up to 1 GW

    TransAlta · Company disclosure · 2026-02-27

  7. Keephills generating station

    TransAlta · Company disclosure · Checked 2026-08-31

  8. Treaty Boundary dataset

    Government of Canada Open Government Portal · Government database · Modified 2026-06-29