Q and A: EverWind CEO discusses opportunity, risks and what comes next with his company's $10B Nova Scotia data centre campus

EverWind Fuels plans to build a $10-billion, 420-megawatt data centre campus on the shores of the Strait of Canso in Cape Breton, positioning Nova Scotia to participate in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry.

Led by founder and CEO Trent Vichie, the project is anchored by a 20-year lease with AI giant Anthropic. The proposal comes as demand for computing power surges and represents a significant economic opportunity for the Strait region. But its scale also raises questions about energy demand, water use, infrastructure costs and long-term benefits.

Days after the announcement of the project – which the company describes as the largest privately funded infusion in the province’s history but that has drawn both praise and condemnation – Vichie discussed in an email how EverWind plans to build and finance the data centre, responds to concerns about its impact on the community and outlines what still needs to happen to bring the wider vision to life.

Q: Data centres, particularly those supporting AI, have faced growing scrutiny over energy consumption, water use and environmental impact. What would you say to residents concerned about having a large-scale data centre in their community?

VICHIE: EverWind is happy to be a signatory to Canada’s Responsible Data Centre Development Principles, and we are committed to meeting and, where possible, exceeding federal and provincial standards across the project. It matters to us that this development is not intrusive. It matters to us that the campus uses clean energy, minimizes water usage and provides tangible and significant benefits to the community.

We’re developing on existing industrial lands, far from our neighbours. Supplying our own clean power and footing the bill for any expenses incurred as a result. Using a closed-loop cooling system and Nova Scotia’s naturally cool weather to keep water usage at just a third of what some golf courses use. We’ve publicly committed to ensuring electricity and industrial water rates do not increase because of this project. We’re also delivering tens of millions in dedicated community benefits funding, over 2,000 peak construction jobs and more than 200 permanent high-paying positions, and roughly $400 million in new municipal tax revenues across the data centre and wind projects.

Q: Given the pace of change in AI technology, how confident are you that demand for large-scale computing infrastructure will remain strong enough to support this investment over the next 10 to 20 years?

VICHIE: Nova Scotia and Canada as a whole have already shown they are committed to this technology. Anthropic ranks Canada sixth worldwide in Claude.ai use, and Canadians use the technology roughly four times more than the population predicts.

Our data centre campus creates Canadian-based infrastructure to serve this quickly growing Canadian and global demand, and we are confident the need for this infrastructure will only expand.

Q: There’s concern that the project will lead to an increase in Nova Scotians’ utility bills. How will you ensure the data centre has enough electricity without increasing costs for other Nova Scotians?

VICHIE: Our power arrangements are being structured around a simple principle: the project pays its own costs. EverWind has committed to fund connection, network upgrade and other electricity system costs attributable to the data centre rather than passing those project-specific costs to existing customers. Electricity service and interconnection requirements are implemented through IESO Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia Power processes.

EverWind has also proposed entering into a formal implementation agreement with the province that would document the project’s key commitments, reporting requirements and accountability measures as the development proceeds. That could include areas such as ratepayer protection, water use, local and Indigenous benefits, system reliability and project-specific infrastructure costs.

Q: What is the biggest obstacle to bringing the first phase online by the end of 2027 and fully completed the following year?

VICHIE: We do not anticipate any significant obstacles to ensuring the first phase of this development is online by the end of 2027 and are eager to begin the full build-out of the development. Currently, we are focused on securing long-lead electrical and cooling equipment and ensuring the necessary measures are in place to begin construction safely, efficiently and on schedule.

Q: Are there any concerns (i.e., financing, grid infrastructure, construction, technology changes) about delivering this project?

VICHIE: We are confident that we have created the necessary conditions for this project to succeed and to be developed in a responsible manner. Leveraging a 20-year lease with a frontier AI company like Anthropic provides a strong backing to access the necessary financing. We are also fortunate to have a number of existing advantages, through our established industrial site at Point Tupper and in Nova Scotia’s natural resources and skilled workforce, which we are leveraging to ensure the development proceeds safely and responsibly.

Q: The $10-billion investment is funded entirely by EverWind. Where is that capital coming from, and how much is already committed or secured?

VICHIE: EverWind’s project is structured to access the deep and active project financing market for long-term data centre developments. We have engaged leading investment banks to issue the project debt and each phase will be financed separately.

EverWind and its Indigenous partners will be responsible for the equity components of the various projects.

Q: What return on investment does EverWind expect? What makes the project commercially viable?

VICHIE: These projects represent an historic investment in Nova Scotia, the largest injection of private capital in the province’s history. This is a long-term investment in extremely high-demand digital infrastructure and the renewable energy generation necessary to support it, backed by a 20-year lease with a frontier AI company. We know the demand is there and this project will create the infrastructure inside Canada to support this growing usage here and abroad.

Q: Given the evolving green hydrogen and ammonia market, what progress has EverWind made in securing customers and what needs to happen before you can make a final investment decision on the project?

VICHIE: EverWind continues to participate in bilateral negotiations as well as participating in hydrogen/ammonia auctions such as the H2Global North American auction.

A final investment decision needs long-term offtake contracts in place, which the global market is currently working through.

Q: Are the data centre, wind portfolio and the proposed green hydrogen and ammonia projects independently viable, or does the success of one depend on the others?

VICHIE: The data centre and green hydrogen projects serve different markets and timelines. The data centre adds a major near-term industrial use for the same site, renewable energy portfolio and infrastructure while international hydrogen and ammonia offtake markets continue to develop.

EverWind’s green hydrogen and ammonia plans remain an important part of the Point Tupper platform. EverWind is participating in the H2Global North American auction to sell green ammonia. The data centre helps maintain investment momentum in wind, transmission and shared infrastructure that can also support hydrogen and ammonia over time. While these investments complement each other, they are not dependent on one another.

Q: Of the projected $136 million in annual GDP, how much economic value do you expect to remain in Nova Scotia through local wages, supplier spending, tax revenue, et cetera?

VICHIE: The nearly $137 million is estimated annual GDP generated in Nova Scotia, rather than total project revenue or spending that may leave the province.

It measures the new value created annually within Nova Scotia through the facility’s operations, local and provincial suppliers, supported wages and resulting household spending.

We expect these projects will also generate approximately $2.4 billion in direct construction spending in Nova Scotia and approximately $939 million in construction-related employment income.

Overall, these projects are designed to ensure the economic benefits created by them remain primarily in Nova Scotia. We are leveraging a strong Nova Scotia supply chain throughout construction and will work with dozens of businesses across the province. The permanent positions created by our data centre are the type of high-paying careers which attract and retain the best talent to rural Nova Scotia.

Q: What advantages did Nova Scotia offer that competing locations could not match? What specific factors ultimately determined the decision to invest in Point Tupper?

VICHIE: Location is extremely important for developing data centres, and Point Tupper is perfect for our responsible development approach. It’s an existing heavy industrial site owned by EverWind, with an existing grid connection, an industrial water supply, a deepwater port, road access and fibre, all situated several kilometres away from residential areas.

The site has been an industrial anchor for the Strait region for more than 50 years and sits on previously developed land, meaning new greenfield construction is not necessary.

Nova Scotia added the rest: a cool climate that lets us cool mostly with air, strong wind resources to power the new renewable generation required for projects of this scale, a skilled industrial workforce with the Nova Scotia Community College Strait Area Campus nearby, and Mi’kmaw partners who are majority owners of the wind that will supply it.

Q: What economic benefits can residents and businesses in the Strait region realistically expect from this investment?

VICHIE: These projects will create about 2,000 jobs at peak construction, mostly skilled trades, plus subcontract and supply opportunities for Cape Breton, Strait-region and Mi’kmaw businesses. Once developed, there will be over 200 permanent jobs across the data centre and wind projects, with data-centre positions expected to pay $135,000 to $185,000 a year. Those are careers that let people build a life in Cape Breton.

Beyond jobs, Phase 1 alone comes with tens of millions of dollars in dedicated community benefit funding, on top of approximately $400 million in municipal tax revenues. These projects aren’t just historic private investments in Nova Scotia, they’re the type of economic lynchpins that demonstrate the opportunities that continue to exist in rural Nova Scotia; the jobs that entice newcomers and anchor future generations.

Q: Five years from now, what would success look like for this project?

VICHIE: Success is measured by doing what we say we’re going to do. It’s measured in Nova Scotians getting the jobs created by this project, by incorporating local businesses throughout the supply chain, by upholding our protections for ratepayers and local resources, and by delivering clear community benefits.

In five years, we expect our full 420 MW data centre campus to be operating, powered by a growing share of newly constructed renewable Nova Scotia wind energy which is majority owned by our Mi’kmaw partners.

Our communities will be seeing tangible and significant benefits from the tens of millions of dollars being invested through our community development funding, alongside significant new municipal tax revenues.

Our new permanent workforce staffing over 200 jobs will be made largely of people from Cape Breton and the Strait region.

And we will have upheld our promises. There will be no project-drive increases in electricity or water rates for existing customers and our water usage will be what we predicted.