一座用于提供人工智能算力的大型数据中心正在新斯科舍省布雷顿角岛霍克斯伯里港外建设。
A massive data centre to provide computing power for artificial intelligence is under construction just outside Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton.
EverWind Fuels 表示，它将分两阶段建设该设施，第一阶段计划于2027年底前投入运营，第二阶段则在2028年。
EverWind Fuels said it will build the facility in two stages, with the first phase to come online by the end of 2027 and the second in 2028.
该公司由澳大利亚裔美国私募股权资深人士特伦特·维奇（Trent Vichie）领导，此前曾确认其拥有数据中心建设意愿，但未透露更多细节。周五，EverWind 发布了更多关于其计划的信息。
The company, headed by Australian-American private equity veteran Trent Vichie, had previously confirmed it has data centre ambitions, but said little else. On Friday, EverWind released more information about its plans.
公司正在建设该设施，并已与一家尚未具名的人工智能公司签署协议，将首阶段设施租赁期限至少为20年。
The company is building the facility and has signed an agreement with an as-yet unnamed AI company to lease the first phase for a term of at least 20 years.
首阶段设施容量为95兆瓦，第二阶段为325兆瓦，总计420兆瓦。新斯科舍省目前的电力发电容量接近3000兆瓦。
The first phase would have a capacity of 95 megawatts and the second, 325 megawatts, for a total of 420 megawatts. Nova Scotia’s current electrical generating capacity is close to 3,000 megawatts.
EverWind 为该项目筹资80亿美元 EverWind 表示，将承担新斯科舍省电力系统所需升级的费用。
EverWind raising $8 billion for project EverWind said it will pay for any required upgrades to Nova Scotia’s electricity system.
“新斯科舍省居民应当期待我们证明我们能够保护用电者权益、保障当地资源并带来持久的社区效益，我们也意在对这些承诺负责，”维奇在新闻稿中表示。
“Nova Scotians should expect us to demonstrate that we can protect ratepayers, safeguard local resources and deliver lasting community benefits, and we intend to be accountable for those commitments,” Vichie said in a news release.
EverWind 表示，正通过私募资本筹集80亿美元用于该项目，并额外筹集20亿美元用于其计划建设的四座陆上风电场。
EverWind said it is raising $8 billion in private capital to fund the project and an additional $2 billion for four of the onshore wind farms it is planning to build.
公司表示，这些风电场最终将支持数据中心的用电需求，但省级电网现有发电能力将作为初期主要供应。公司官员称，省级电网运营商已完成系统影响研究，表明电网能够支持首阶段项目。
It said those wind farms would eventually support the data centre’s electricity needs, but existing generation on the provincial grid would be the primary supply to begin. Company officials said the provincial grid operator has done a system-impact study that indicates the grid can support the first phase.
EverWind 已尝试在新斯科舍省开发可再生能源项目数年。它表示，这些计划保持不变。
EverWind has been trying to develop renewable energy projects in Nova Scotia for several years. It says those plans remain unchanged.
数据中心将建在EverWind另一项拟议项目——位于布雷顿角角塔珀工业园区的绿色氢气和氨设施——同一地点。
The data centre is to be built at the same site as one of EverWind’s other proposed projects — a green hydrogen and ammonia facility — in the industrial park at Point Tupper, Cape Breton.
数据中心争议 数据中心已成为加拿大各地的焦点，尤其是为人工智能提供动力的数据中心，因为它们可能占用巨大面积，并需要大量能源和水用于冷却。人们对人工智能可能对就业造成的影响以及关于对人类生存构成风险的严峻警告也导致一些人持反对态度。
Data centre controversies Data centres have become a flashpoint across Canada, especially those that power AI, because they can have huge footprints and require vast amounts of energy and water for cooling. Concerns about AI’s potential impacts on jobs and dire warnings about risks to human existence also have some people pushing back.
一些拟建的数据中心规模将远超这个项目，包括阿尔伯塔省的奇谷数据中心——其第一阶段规模预计将超过一吉瓦——但该项目仍属于加拿大最近公布的较大型设施之一。EverWind表示，它已签署渥太华负责任数据中心发展原则——联邦政府上个月发布的一套非约束性指南。新斯科舍省省长蒂姆·休斯顿最近也提出了类似指南。两级政府均表示，他们期望任何数据中心都能带来当地利益、对环境影响降至最低、用水量降至最低，并且不会导致电价出现尖峰。
There are some proposed data centres that would dwarf this one in size, including the Wonder Valley data centre in Alberta — the first phase of which is meant to be more than a gigawatt — but this project is still on the larger end of facilities that have been recently announced in Canada EverWind said it has signed on to Ottawa’s responsible data centre development principles — a set of non-binding guidelines the federal government released last month Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston recently laid out similar guidelines. Both levels of government say they expect any data centre to have local benefits, minimal environmental impact and minimal water use, and for there to be no resulting power rate spikes.
“我们赞赏联邦和省级政府为负责任发展设定了高标准，”维奇在声明中表示。“我们将继续与社区合作，确保我们的工作符合他们的期望。”社区受益计划 EverWind表示，它将采用闭环水-乙二醇系统。该公司初步估算，第一阶段的用水量平均为每天10万升，两阶段合计的用水量为每天50万升。
“We applaud the federal and provincial governments for setting high standards for responsible development,” Vichie said in the release. “And we will continue to work with communities to ensure that our work meets their expectations.”Community benefit program EverWind said it will use a closed-loop water-glycol system. The company’s preliminary estimate for water usage is an average of 100,000 litres per day for the first phase and 500,000 litres of water per day including both phases.
水将从附近的兰德里湖取水。省级监管机构已批准兰德里湖水务公司每天从湖中抽取3400万升水，这将使EverWind的日需水量占总安全抽取量的约1%。
Water would be drawn from nearby Landrie Lake. The provincial regulator has approved the Landrie Lake Water Utility to withdraw 34 million litres from the lake each day, which would make EverWind’s daily requirements about one per cent of the total safe withdrawal volume.
该公司承诺，数据中心将配备一项价值数千万加元的社区惠益计划，未提供具体金额。当地社区和数据中心的匿名客户将就资金用途进行协商。
The company promised the data centre would come with a community benefit program worth tens of millions of dollars. A specific dollar figure was not provided. Local communities and the data centre’s unnamed customer would consult on how to spend the money.
由米克马克族社区组成的财团，由Membertou原住民部落牵头，正就该项目的9%股权进行谈判。
A consortium of Mi’kmaw communities, fronted by Membertou First Nation, is negotiating a nine per cent equity stake in the project.
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