Glossary & FAQ

A facility that houses computer servers, data storage, networking equipment, cooling systems, and the power equipment needed to keep them running. Data centres vary widely in scale. The International Energy Agency uses 25 MW as a conventional data centre example.

A very large data centre designed to grow by adding standardized blocks of computing capacity. For a practical comparison, the International Energy Agency uses 100 MW for a hyperscale data centre and notes that large hyperscale facilities can demand 100 MW or more. These figures are useful reference points, not formal Alberta regulatory thresholds.

Computing workloads that use large numbers of powerful processors at once. They can require much more electricity and cooling than ordinary business computing.

A data centre where multiple customers rent space, power, cooling, and network connections from the facility operator. Think of it as a heavily fortified apartment building for servers.

“Waterless” usually means the facility rejects heat without routinely evaporating water in cooling towers. It may use dry coolers or air-cooled chillers, sometimes with sealed liquid cooling at the servers. That can greatly reduce local water consumption, but it does not mean chemical-free or impact-free.

Depending on the design, sealed systems may contain refrigerant, a water-glycol mixture, mineral oil, or another engineered dielectric fluid. Fans, pumps, and compressors still use electricity. A properly contained closed loop should not routinely release these fluids, but refrigerant leaks can add potent greenhouse gases, while coolant spills, servicing, and disposal need proper controls. The exact fluid and environmental tradeoffs cannot be known from the word “waterless” alone.

Mechanical cooling uses powered equipment such as chillers, pumps, fans, or computer-room cooling units to remove heat. “N” is the number of units needed to carry the design load; “+1” means one extra unit is installed so cooling can continue if a unit fails or is being serviced. If three units are required, an N+1 design installs four.

N+1 describes redundancy, not the exact cooling technology, water use, or environmental performance.

A refrigeration ton is a measure of cooling capacity, not the weight of the equipment and not a volume of water. It tells readers how quickly a system can remove heat. It does not reveal whether the system uses cooling towers, dry coolers, refrigerant, or routine water consumption.

A watt measures the rate at which electricity is being used or produced. It measures power at a point in time, not the total energy used over a day, month, or year.

One megawatt is one million watts. One gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts, or one billion watts. On ADCW, always check what the number describes. It may refer to data centre demand, grid connection capacity, on-site generation, or backup generators.

Capacity describes how much power a facility could use or produce at one time. Energy use describes how much it actually uses over a period of time and is measured in units such as megawatt-hours (MWh) or gigawatt-hours (GWh). A 1 GW capacity claim does not prove that a facility will continuously consume 1 GW.

Load is the electricity the data centre demands. Generation is electricity produced by a power plant. A project can propose both, and the figures are not interchangeable. ADCW labels them separately.

In electricity records, interconnection is the physical and contractual connection that lets a facility draw power from, or send power to, the grid. It can require transmission or distribution lines, a substation, technical studies, agreements, and regulatory approvals. An interconnection request or study does not by itself approve the data centre or guarantee that the requested capacity will be available. Data centre operators also use “interconnection” for private network links between customers, carriers, and cloud services, which is a separate meaning.

Generators intended to supply electricity during an outage or other interruption. They are often diesel or natural-gas units. Their combined nameplate capacity does not mean they normally run all the time.

A common efficiency ratio: total facility energy divided by the energy used by computing equipment. A PUE of 1.2 means the facility uses another 0.2 units for cooling, power conversion, lighting, and other support systems for every 1 unit used by the computers. Lower is better, but a projected PUE is still a projection.

Alberta's independent utilities regulator. The AUC does not approve the data centre building itself. It reviews regulated utility infrastructure that may support a project, such as power plants, transmission lines, substations, and some natural-gas pipelines.

The organization that operates and plans Alberta's interconnected power grid, manages the wholesale electricity market, and handles transmission connection requests. The AESO and AUC have different jobs: the AESO operates and plans the system, while the AUC makes regulatory decisions.

A municipal approval that allows a proposed use or development on a specific site, subject to the local land-use bylaw and any conditions. A project may need municipal permits as well as separate provincial or utility approvals.

The formal public record used to review an application. It can include the application, information requests, responses, submissions, hearings, and the final decision. A proceeding number helps people find the record in the AUC's eFiling system.

Consultation can happen before or during an application and may be led by a company, municipality, or regulator. A hearing is part of a formal decision process. Attending an open house does not mean a project has been approved, and consultation does not necessarily mean every concern has been resolved.

No. An approval permits something to proceed under specified conditions. Financing, contracts, other permits, market conditions, and company decisions can still delay, change, or stop a project.

No. The AUC regulates the utility infrastructure within its jurisdiction, not the data centre building itself. Municipal and other approvals may follow separate processes.

Not necessarily. The figure may be a proposed maximum, a full-build target, a grid connection request, or a generation rating. Actual demand can vary and may not be publicly available.

One number may describe the data centre's electricity demand while another describes an on-site power plant or backup fleet. Figures may also refer to different phases. ADCW labels each number by what it actually measures.

Because missing information is useful information. Keeping a gap visible helps readers distinguish a documented fact from an assumption and gives ADCW something specific to verify later.

ADCW publishes a project only after its identity, status, location precision, and source base meet the publication standard. Credible leads can remain in the research ledger until they are ready.