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Goldfinch Technology Park Data Centre

Goldfinch is Diode Ventures' proposed data centre park west of Carseland. Wheatland County's final consolidated plan records adoption of the Diode area concept plan on August 11, 2026, not a project-specific development permit. AESO's 950 MW grid request remains at Stage 2 with dates under review. The future operator, workload, final cooling design and water demand are not publicly confirmed.

Diode Ventures
How to read this profilePublic recordProponent statementProponent projectionProponent projectionA forecast, target, estimate, or promised future outcome from the company proposing the project.The label identifies whose projection it is. It does not turn a future claim into an independently verified result or an enforceable approval condition.Learn more →ADCW context

Project facts

Core scale, approval, employment, and schedule information, labelled by the type of evidence available.

Public record

Planning area

Approximately 576 acres (233 hectares)

The June notice gives 576.34 acres. The marker represents the planning area, not a surveyed building location.

Sources [2]
Proponent statement

Developer

Diode Ventures

Diode describes itself as a Black & Veatch subsidiary that prepares the site for a future end user.

Sources [3]
ADCW context

Future operator and workload

Not confirmedSources [3]
Public record

Planning decision

August 11, 2026

The final consolidated Goldfinch plan records the Diode area concept plan as adopted under Bylaw 2025-32.

Sources [1]
Public record

Planning category

Medium Industrial

The adopted ASP says this category may include technology centres and associated power generation or energy-conversion systems. It is a planning framework, not approval of a final on-site power design.

Sources [1]
ADCW context

Construction or operation date

Not confirmedSources [3], [4]

Energy and emissions

The grid request establishes a proposed connection scale, not a commissioned facility or a guaranteed supply date.

Important distinction: 650 MW plus 300 MW equals the 950 MW request. These are stages of the same project and must not be counted again as separate campuses or added to the total. MW is capacity, not annual electricity consumption.
Public record

AESO request

P3102: 650 MW + 300 MW

Goldfinch Technology Park MPC Load, Stage 2. Both DTS stages have in-service dates under review in the August 2026 list.

Sources [4]
ADCW context

Final supply and grid upgrades

Not confirmed

Diode says AESO studies will determine needed upgrades. A queue entry does not grant construction approval or guarantee a connection.

Sources [3], [5]
ADCW context

Backup generationBackup generationBackup generators provide electricity when the normal supply is unavailable. They may also run for testing or maintenance.Installed capacity does not establish continuous operation, annual fuel use, or emissions. Operating hours and permit conditions are separate evidence.Learn more →

Equipment and fuel not confirmed

No final generator inventory, fuel plan or operating hours were found.

Sources [3], [2]
ADCW context

Annual electricity use and emissions

Not quantified

No project-specific MWh/year or tonnes CO₂e/year estimate was identified. Connection capacity alone cannot establish either.

Sources [4], [3]

Water

Cooling selection and the full water balance remain unresolved. A commitment not to use local aquifer water for cooling does not establish zero site water use. [2], [3]

Proponent statement

Cooling technology

Final selection pending

Diode says the cooling strategy will be determined at the development-permit stage.

Sources [3]
Proponent statement

Local aquifer cooling water

Not proposed

WSP's June submission excludes local aquifer process water for cooling, while identifying domestic use and stored fire-protection water.

Sources [2]
ADCW context

Water demand and approvals

Not confirmed

No final daily or annual withdrawalWithdrawal, consumption, and dischargeWithdrawal is water taken from a source. Consumption is the portion not returned to the same water system. Discharge is water released after use or treatment.These are different quantities. Check which one a water figure describes before comparing projects.Learn more →, consumption or wastewater volume, supply allocation or project-specific water authorization was identified in the reviewed sources.

Sources [2], [3]
Public record

Water supply for Goldfinch

Not confirmed

The industrial park already has a pipeline carrying untreated water to CGC, a drywall manufacturer. The County has not confirmed that Diode's data centre will use it.

Sources [6]
Proponent statement

Rainwater and snowmelt

Storage proposed; final drainage design unresolved

WSP proposes temporarily holding rainwater and snowmelt on site to meet irrigation-season restrictions on releasing runoff. The final design for storing and managing this water is not yet confirmed.

Sources [2]

Noise

Noise studies are a future permit requirement, not evidence of demonstrated operating performance. The reviewed sources contain no numerical receptor results.

Proponent statement

Noise-impact assessment

Required at each development-permit stage

WSP's June submission describes this requirement. Numerical receptor tables were not found in the reviewed public package.

Sources [2]
Proponent statement

Mitigation

Proposed, not verified

Diode lists berms, landscaping, sound barriers, generator enclosures and mufflers as possible measures. Final specifications and measured performance are not available.

Sources [3]

Indigenous context

Data centre projects sit within treaty territories and places with longstanding First Nations and Métis connections. This section brings together the public record on treaty geography, Indigenous ownership, consultation, and community concerns. Treaty boundaries alone cannot tell us which communities may be affected or how they view a project.

ADCW context

Treaty geography

Treaty 7 territory

Geographic context only. It does not establish consultation, consent or a community's position on this proposal.

Sources [7]
ADCW context

Project-specific consultation

Not established in reviewed sources

Participants, concerns, outcomes and accommodation measures were not identified.

Sources [2], [3]

Approval and public process

Land-use planning, a development permit and construction are separate steps. Wheatland County's final consolidated Goldfinch plan records the Diode area concept plan as adopted under Bylaw 2025-32 on August 11, 2026. It also places technology centres, including associated power generation or energy-conversion systems, within the Medium Industrial policy category. The County archive label and PDF filename say 2026-32, but that number does not appear inside the final plan.

Public record

Final planning instrument

Goldfinch ASP and Diode ACP adopted

The final consolidated plan records the Diode area concept plan as adopted under Bylaw 2025-32 on August 11, 2026. The County archive label and PDF filename call the document Bylaw 2026-32, but the plan itself uses 2025-32. ADCW follows the number printed inside the final plan.

Sources [1]
ADCW context

Next permit stage

Discretionary development permitDevelopment permitA municipality's approval allows a specified use or development on a particular site, subject to its land-use rules and any conditions.Separate provincial or utility approvals may still be needed. A permit does not establish that construction has begun or that the facility is operating.Learn more →

The June submission identifies a later discretionary permit review. ADCW has not verified an issued project-specific development permit.

Sources [2], [3]
Proponent statement

Detailed design

Still to be submitted

Diode identifies site layout, buildings, noise, servicing and construction timing as later permit details.

Sources [3]
Public record

Infrastructure cost framework

Off-site levies and development agreements

The adopted ASP says developers will fund utility and road improvements that benefit future development. Front-ending, cost recovery and cost-sharing may apply. No Goldfinch-specific amount or agreement is disclosed.

Sources [1]

Timeline

Observed decisions and future dates are kept distinct; projected milestones may change.

  1. Public record

    Application date recorded by AESO for P3102. [4]

  2. Public record

    County notice schedules a July 7 public hearing on the planning proposal. [2]

  3. Public record

    AESO's updated list records Stage 2 and both in-service dates under review. [4][5]

  4. Public record

    Wheatland County adopted the Diode Ventures Data Centre Area Concept Plan within the final consolidated Goldfinch Industrial Area Structure Plan. This planning instrument is not a project-specific development permit. [1]

What we still don't know

Some details have not been made public or remain unresolved. We keep those gaps visible and update them when reliable information becomes available.

  • An issued development permit, approved building layout, conditions and construction start have not been verified.
  • The future operator, tenants, workload and contracted compute capacity remain undisclosed.
  • Final grid connection dates, network upgrades, cost allocation and power-supply contracts are not confirmed.
  • The final cooling design, water source, allocation, annual demand and wastewater arrangements remain unresolved.
  • No numerical noise receptor assessment or final generator and cooling-equipment specifications were found.
  • Project-specific annual electricity consumption, greenhouse-gas emissions and backup-generator air emissions are not quantified.
  • The June public package lists supporting technical reports but does not reproduce them all. Listing a report does not establish its findings.
  • Project-specific Indigenous consultation outcomes, enforceable cleanup security and a binding operating schedule were not found.

Source record

Primary and official sources reviewed for this profile. Company disclosures support what the company said, not independent verification of future outcomes.

  1. Goldfinch Industrial Area Structure Plan, final consolidated plan

    Wheatland County · Municipal record · Adopted 2026-08-11; accessed 2026-09-09

  2. PL2025-005: June public-hearing notice, WSP submission letter and conceptual maps

    Wheatland County / WSP for Diode Ventures · Municipal record · 2026-06-03; submission letter 2026-06-01

  3. Goldfinch project updates

    Diode Ventures · Company disclosure · Accessed 2026-08-30

  4. August 2026 Connection Project List: P3102, row 173

    Alberta Electric System Operator · Regulator · 2026-08-05

  5. Connection Project Reporting

    Alberta Electric System Operator · Regulator · Updated 2026-08-05; accessed 2026-08-30

  6. Goldfinch Raw Water Line

    Wheatland County · Municipal record · Accessed 2026-08-30

  7. Treaty Boundary dataset

    Government of Canada Open Government Portal · Government database · Modified 2026-06-29