BitDeer Breaks Ground on 100 MW Alberta Site with Gas Power

This article first appeared in The Energy Mag. The original article can be viewed here. Energy Mag (formerly Mining Mag) provides news, information and insights on the energy-calculation-market nexus.

The company announced Tuesday that it has broken ground on a 101-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant near Fox Creek that will combine with a data center to house about 100 megawatts of computing capacity. The project has an investment of 155 million dollars or about 214 million CA. It represents and is expected to provide power in the second quarter of 2027.

BitDeer said the facility would initially support it. Bitcoin mining Maintaining the agility to handle future high-performance computing workloads, including AI applications. That position is interesting as miners look to secure cash flow in the near term. bitcoin Manufacturing when designing new sites with sufficient power density and infrastructure options to appeal to AI and HPC tenants.

The Fox Creek project is being developed under Alberta's own-generation framework. The data center is designed to run on-site instead of drawing electricity from the grid. Gas Planting in the back-fence configuration. The plant remains connected to the Alberta Electricity System Operator's grid through an approved 99MW interconnection, giving the site the ability to reduce computing workloads and send electricity back to the grid during periods of demand or system stress.

That structure addresses one of the central tensions surrounding new data center development: how to scale large, power-hungry computing loads without worsening grid constraints or passing costs on to other customers. Rapid data center growth in various U.S. power markets, including PJM, comes as grid operators and regulators debate whether to accept obligations to bring in new generation or cut back on new generation.

Bitdeer's Alberta site follows the broader industry's move to collaborate on energy supply and calculate demand. b bitcoin Miners, the model has two purposes. Mining provides an immediately operable, flexible load that can utilize existing generation capacity from day one. At the same time, if AI needs, fiber access, cooling requirements and customer contracts are aligned, the underlying infrastructure can be designed for high-value computing use cases.

The project further strengthens Bitdeer's exposure to North American energy infrastructure as the company expands beyond its role as a bitcoin miner and mining developer. BitDeer acquired the Fox Creek site, which was fully licensed and approved in February 2025, from a project originally developed by Kweetinohak Energy Corporation and approved by the Alberta Utilities Commission. The company says after years of permitting, engineering, environmental assessments, regulatory approvals and consultations with local governments and First Nations, the site is moving into construction.

The 7.7-hectare site, located 1.5 kilometers from Fox Creek in Greenview, Municipal District 16, is expected to create about 300 construction jobs and 30 permanent positions. BitDeer said it prioritizes Alberta-based contractors and local hiring for operational roles.

The company said the facility uses a closed-loop dry cooling system where no water is drawn from nearby water bodies. It also plans to develop a system to capture and utilize carbon dioxide emissions from the site, which Bitdar says aims to reduce the project's carbon footprint and offset applicable carbon obligations under Canadian law.

“Today's infrastructure is the start of our long-term presence in Canada,” Chairman and CEO Jihan Wu said in a statement. He said Alberta and Fox Creek offer regulatory confidence, energy resources, openness to industrial investment and a skilled workforce.

The project comes as Alberta seeks to attract AI data center investment by promoting its natural gas resources, deregulated energy market and industrial development framework. Premier Daniel Smith said in the announcement that the province's gas supply and power-industry potential make Alberta a competitive destination for AI data centers.

For BitDeer, the start of construction will transform Fox Creek from an approved energy resource to a live development project. The company's challenge now will be execution: bringing the gas plant and data center online by 2027, meeting environmental and regulatory requirements, and ensuring the mine-first site retains enough technical flexibility to handle future AI and HPC demand.

This article first appeared in The Energy Mag. The original article can be viewed here. Energy Mag (formerly Mining Mag) provides news, information and insights on the energy-calculation-market nexus.