Projects / Black Bear

Black Bear

A fully-permitted 466 MW natural gas combined-cycle plant paired with approximately 1,500 acres of adjacent, Tier-compatible data center land — with a defined pathway to approximately 3 GW across the campus.

Phase I

466 MW

Target energization

Q3, 2028

Year-1 cash cost

~$24/MWh

Vetted Project Scale

~3 GW

OVERVIEW

Vertically integrated NGCC and data center campus at scale.

Black Bear pairs 466 MW of natural-gas combined-cycle generation with approximately 1,500 acres of adjacent Crown land being developed for Tier-compatible data center use. The site supports a defined pathway to approximately 3 GW — roughly 2 GW behind-the-meter and 1 GW grid-connected — across one or more campuses.

Black Bear sits squarely between Edmonton's growing retail load, Grande Prairie's industrial expansion, and the oil sands — the center of a transmission corridor that needs far more generation than it has. Power demand waiting to connect in the region outpaces new supply by roughly 30%, and Alberta's grid operator assigned the site the lowest connection fee in the province (CAD $10K/MW) — its clearest signal that new dispatchable generation is wanted exactly here.

The power platform

One asset. Three ways to sell power.

Black Bear was developed power-first — a fully permitted 466 MW plant in a generation-short corridor. That permit is now a platform: one asset that can sell power three ways, and energize compute years ahead of the queue.

01 — Merchant

Sell to the grid

Merchant sales into the AESO grid at the forward 2028 pool price (~$54/MWh) — no offtake commitment required.

02 — Behind-the-meter

Power compute on-site

Feed a Tier-compatible data center on the adjacent campus straight from the plant — no grid queue, ramp cap, or curtailment. The shortest path to large-scale energized compute in the province.

03 — Tether anywhere

Pair generation with load anywhere

Under Alberta's bring-your-own-generation rules, Black Bear can power a data center anywhere on the provincial grid — not just one built on-site. Few large projects can.

Energize early

Compute online as early as 2027.

Holding an approved Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) power-plant permit unlocks bridging — the right to draw grid power to energize data-center load before the plant is complete. Compute can come online as early as 2027, ahead of the plant's own Q3 2028 commercial operation.

2027

Bridge energization — compute online

Q3 2028

Full 466 MW commercial operation

SPECIFICATIONS

Project specifications.

Generation

Phase I: 466 MW natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power plant; Defined pathway to ~3 GW across the site (~2 GW behind-the-meter + ~1 GW grid)

Campus

~1,500 acres of adjacent Crown land being developed for Tier-compatible data center use

Location

Alberta, Canada. Sited in the AESO sub-region with the lowest interconnection fee in the province ($10K/MW)

Permits — Federal

Fully permitted at the federal level

Permits — Provincial

Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA), Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC), noise and emissions — all in hand.

Carbon & Emissions

High-efficiency combined-cycle generation. Alberta TIER carbon cost fixed through 2040 (May 2026 Canada–Alberta agreement); CO₂ enhanced-oil-recovery hub within 5 km.

Indigenous Consultation

Indigenous consultation complete

Interconnection

AESO Cluster 3 interconnection application filed April 2026

Tier Compatibility

Tier 3/4: redundant power, gas, fiber, and water for 99.982%+ uptime.

Energization

Compute online as early as 2027 (bridge). Full 466 MW target Q3 2028 — approximately 24 months from Final Investment Decision.

Cost transparency

Power cost: $23.69 per MWh.

Year-1 (2028) total cash operating cost per MWh of generation, on a behind-the-meter delivery basis. Source: Black Bear project financial model.

Behind-the-meter delivery bypasses AESO non-energy charges; the grid-scenario equivalent is approximately $26/MWh. Excludes capital recovery and equity return; operating-cost basis only.

The cost reflects AECO gas at a heat rate of 5.69 — AECO-hub gas has historically traded approximately 40% below NYMEX / Henry Hub — a long-term service agreement attached to the combined-cycle equipment, and net Alberta TIER carbon that is fixed through 2040 under the May 2026 Canada–Alberta agreement and nets to zero in Year 1.

Year-1 cash cost of ~$24/MWh against a 2028 AESO pool price of ~$54/MWh — a durable, structural cost-of-power advantage. Detailed project economics and returns are shared with qualified partners under NDA.

$23.69

USD per MWh

Year-1 total cash operating cost, behind-the-meter delivery basis. Excludes capital recovery and equity return.

~$54 2028 AESO pool price (USD/MWh)

~$66 2031 forecast pool price (USD/MWh)

Source: Black Bear project financial model. Forward-looking; subject to fuel price, regulatory, and operating assumptions. AESO pool price forecast: URICA Commodity Forecast, 2028–2031.