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What is Wonder Valley?
Wonder Valley is the proposed Wonder Valley AI Data Centre Industrial Park in the Greenview Industrial Gateway near Grande Prairie, northwestern Alberta. Kevin O’Leary is chairman of O’Leary Digital/O’Leary Ventures, which announced the partnership with the Municipal District of Greenview on December 9, 2024. The announcement described a campus for hyperscale cloud and artificial-intelligence computing customers, supplied by dedicated power infrastructure rather than relying entirely on Alberta’s electricity grid.
The company’s website describes an Alberta campus of about 13,000 acres and 7.5 GW of planned capacity (O’Leary Digital). Those are master-plan figures, not evidence that the land, buildings, generators or tenants have been delivered.
Is it actually natural-gas-powered?
The proposal is built around on-site natural-gas generation. The original announcement also included geothermal resources, while the current company material emphasizes integrated generation and a carbon-capture-ready design (announcement; company site).
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It is too early to say the finished campus will run only on gas. No final public engineering plan establishes the generating units, fuel contracts, backup systems, grid connection, export capability or islanding arrangements. “Off-grid” in the Alberta project listing should be read as dedicated on-site or behind-the-meter generation, not as freedom from provincial regulation or proof of total physical isolation.
How large is the project?
The headline numbers refer to different scopes and stages:
| Figure | What it describes |
|---|---|
| 1.4 GW | Alberta government description of Phase 1’s planned off-grid power system |
| 7.5 GW | O’Leary Digital’s planned Alberta campus capacity |
| 15 GW | Combined Alberta-and-Utah campus plan described by the company |
| C$12 billion | Estimated Phase 1 cost in Alberta’s Major Projects database |
| More than C$70 billion | Proponent’s projected lifetime investment for the Alberta development, including power, data centres and related infrastructure |
Alberta’s official listing currently labels Wonder Valley “Proposed” (Major Projects database). The 7.5-GW and C$70-billion figures are long-range projections, not current spending or operating capacity.
Why the proponents chose Alberta
O’Leary Digital and Greenview point to several advantages:
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- Regional natural-gas resources and existing oil-and-gas infrastructure.
- Large industrial land holdings in the Greenview Industrial Gateway.
- Fibre connectivity and transportation infrastructure.
- A cool climate that may reduce cooling requirements.
- The ability to build dedicated generation behind the data centre instead of waiting for a large new grid connection.
- Alberta policies intended to attract data centres and permit private power supplies.
These are site-selection arguments, not independently demonstrated project outcomes. Access to land, gas or fibre does not establish that contracts, interconnections and construction financing are complete.
Current status: proposed, with permitting said to be underway
O’Leary Digital said on February 17, 2026 that permitting was underway for the Alberta project and that it had begun engagement with Indigenous communities whose traditional lands include the gateway (company announcement). That statement does not establish a final investment decision or a construction start.
| Milestone | Verified position |
|---|---|
| Public announcement | December 9, 2024 |
| Alberta location | Greenview Industrial Gateway near Grande Prairie |
| Public status | Proposed |
| Permitting | Company said it was underway in February 2026 |
| Confirmed construction start | Not established in the cited authoritative sources |
| Confirmed hyperscale tenant | Not established in the cited authoritative sources |
| Operating data centre | No |
Greenview’s spring 2026 newsletter says some project information remains confidential (Greenview update).
The water licence—and what it does not prove
On April 7, 2025, Alberta issued the Municipal District of Greenview No. 16 a Water Act licence authorizing diversion from the Smoky River for commercial and industrial purposes in the Greenview Industrial Gateway. The licence allows up to 6 million cubic metres per year at a maximum rate of 0.56 cubic metres per second (Environmental Appeals Board decision).
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That authorization is not the data centre’s measured consumption and is not approval of the complete Wonder Valley campus. The actual water balance would depend on how much is withdrawn and consumed or evaporated for power generation, cooling, construction and other industrial uses, plus how wastewater and thermal discharge are managed.
Indigenous consultation and the legal dispute
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation challenged the water-licensing process. In reasons dated April 17, 2026, the Environmental Appeals Board dismissed that particular appeal because it found the Nation was not directly affected for the purpose of standing. The Board said it therefore did not need to decide the constitutional jurisdiction and duty-to-consult questions in that proceeding (decision).
That ruling did not approve the full data centre, erase other consultation duties or resolve any separate judicial-review proceedings. Later court developments should be checked against the Alberta Court of King’s Bench record before being described as final.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Environmental approvals and climate trade-offs
There is no single approval called an “AI data-centre approval.” The project may require separate authorizations for natural-gas generation, air emissions, water diversion, cooling and wastewater, land disturbance, roads, pipelines or transmission, wildlife and wetlands, and potential carbon-management infrastructure. Alberta’s framework says environmental assessment depends on factors such as scale, complexity, technology, resource use and potential for significant adverse effects. Activities affecting land, water and air can also require approvals under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (assessment process; approvals framework; EPEA approvals; authorization tools).
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Natural-gas generation could provide firm electricity without a major initial grid connection, but it would also raise questions about carbon dioxide, upstream methane, nitrogen oxides, noise, waste heat, water use and land fragmentation. “Carbon-capture-ready” means equipment could be accommodated; it does not establish that capture will be financed, permitted, installed or operated.
What must happen before the proposal is credible?
- A final investment decision and binding financing.
- Named cloud or AI customers with capacity commitments.
- Executed land agreements and final engineering for generation, cooling and data halls.
- Gas-supply, pipeline and equipment contracts.
- Air-emissions, water, wastewater, land-use and construction approvals.
- A funded schedule showing procurement, site work and commissioning.
The principal risks are unusually high capital requirements, tenant demand, turbine and electrical-equipment lead times, gas-price exposure, water and consultation disputes, and the possibility that AI-computing economics change before a multistage buildout is complete.
A separate Alberta project offers a useful scale comparison
Bitdeer broke ground near Fox Creek in June 2026 on a separate facility pairing a stated 101-MW natural-gas power plant with approximately 100 MW of computing capacity, targeting energization in the second quarter of 2027 (Bitdeer release; project page). Its construction milestone demonstrates a smaller behind-the-meter model; it is not evidence that Wonder Valley has reached the same stage.
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