‘These centres will be part of our future’: Cape Breton chief comments on EverWind’s data centre announcement

A statement from Membertou’s chief and CEO clarified they are not yet involved with the recently announced data centre campus in Point Tupper, but indicated some amount of interest in being a part of the conversation.

On Oct. 16, EverWind announced during an event at their industrial park in Point Tupper the company would build a data centre on the property with the intention of leasing it out to the American AI giant Anthropic.

Details found on EverWind’s website state the planned investment totals over $10 billion: $8 billion for the construction and maintenance of the data centre campus and $2 billion towards its ongoing wind energy portfolio in the province. The company has labeled it the biggest private investment in the history of Nova Scotia.

Present at the announcement were EverWind CEO and founder Trent Vichie, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, Liberal MP for Kings-Hants Kody Blois, and Richmond County Deputy Warden and Nova Scotia Liberal Party leadership candidate Amanda Mombourquette, who MC’d the event.

On Tuesday, Membertou Chief Terry Paul said they are not currently partnered on the data centre project and are “assessing and learning about the project in deeper detail and haven’t invested at this time.”

Membertou has a relationship with EverWind lasting over five years. They are the majority owner of several sites where EverWind has proposed wind farms for energy production, including Bear Lake, Kmtnuk, Upper Afton and Windy Ridge.

“EverWind has been a thoughtful and trustworthy partner to us over the last five years,” said Paul in his statement, published to Membertou’s website.

According to EverWind, the proposed data centre project will be completed over two stages of development. The company said the first stage will utilize 95 megawatts of electricity from the province’s electric grid and 100,000 litres of water daily from the man-made Landrie Lake, which EverWind stated has a safe yield of up to 34 million litres of water per day.

The second phase will require 420 megawatts of electricity and 500,000 litres of water daily. EverWind claims this usage is, “less than one-third of the amount some golf courses can be permitted to use in a day,” a claim reiterated in Paul’s statement, amongst others.

EverWind said to offset potential costs to customers, the company will pay for any upgrades needed to the province’s power grid. It also expects that its potential wind projects will “contribute more to the electricity system than it costs to serve,” according to its website.

Paul continued in his statement that, “computing, artificial intelligence, and data are the way of the technological future,” and that it is Membertou’s responsibility to “be at the forefront of these major projects to ensure they’re designed and developed from a sustainable lens.”

“Our communities know what happens when we’ve not been at the table for important industry decision-making in the past,” said Paul. “Currently, there is an opportunity to shape this new industry during these early stages; to ensure environmental measures are upheld, and to ensure our resources are well-managed.

“The truth is, these centres will be part of our future.”

In the days following the announcement, both the province and EverWind have faced criticism for the lack of public consultation prior to this announcement and the lack of specific data centre provincial regulations, on top of environmental concerns and the sustainability of AI infrastructure as a longterm business model.

The Cape Breton Post reached out to Paul for clarification on whether Membertou was informed of the announcement ahead of time, what benefits they could bring to the project and the community if they were to invest, and their response to the criticisms levied against the project. The request was passed on to a Membertou Development Corporation representative to answer via email.

“Yes, as a partner with EverWind on four major proposed wind projects in the province, we were aware of the project in advance of the announcement,” wrote Kelsea MacNeil, Membertou Development Corporation’s director of commercial operations and communications.

She reiterated Membertou has no current involvement in the data centre project, but said, “If Membertou was to partner with EverWind on this or any future projects, all due diligence would need to take place in advance of that investment.”

MacNeil chose not to comment on the criticisms levied at the project, stating, “We’re not currently partnered on the project and don’t have the engagement or regulatory specifics.”