Upgrades needed to support N.S. data centre: report

Since announcing its plans for an AI data center campus in Nova Scotia, Everwind Fuels has been saying the grid has capacity. Now, the entity that's in charge of the grid is entering the chat. The independent energy system operator publicly released its analysis of the project this week. But some say they still want more information. Well, there's a lot of blind spots in it still. The two reports, one for each phase, say the grid could handle the project's electricity demands. with some caveats. The system would need major upgrades and new equipment, and it wouldn't be cheap. For phase one, the costs have not been made public. For phase two, it would be at least $74 million. Everwind has said it will pay for the work. The grid operator says there's more analysis that has to be done as the project advances, and real-world testing once the facility is built. It's still not clear exactly what equipment is going to be used inside. Once the studies are a bit more conclusive, then we'll have a clearer answer. Unfortunately, right now, we're a bit in the fog. Last winter, during a cold snap, the grid came close to being overloaded. Nevertheless, officials with the Energy Department trust there's capacity for this data centre. And as we understand it, the grid today is capable of delivering around 2,400 megawatts at peak, and much of the year we are far below that. So for the most part, the grid is capable of delivering this volume of energy. Energy department officials say any other new large customer would be competing with Everwind for space on the grid. In other words, this project could take up all the extra capacity that currently exists. There aren't any other data centres with plans as advanced as Everwind's, but there are some other companies who have expressed interest in Nova Scotia. Taryn Grant, CBC News, Halifax.