- Celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary’s Wonder Valley data center plans are under scrutiny
- The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) has filed for a judicial review over the project, which is planned to be the world’s largest data center
- A physicist hired by the SLCN has declared the data center will release significant heat waste
A physicist acting on behalf of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) has claimed that the O’Leary Digital Wonder Valley data center would release “23 atomic bombs of energy” while adding that the declaration is “a first-order estimate intended to convey scale.”
The report by Utah State University physicist Robert Davies, working on behalf of the SLCN, whose lawyer, also adds that current regulations for developing land are not suited to projects of the data center’s scale.
O’Leary Digital Wonder Valley, plans for which were first unveiled in 2024, was conceived to be the largest on the planet when completed, and has a $70 billion budget for the 64 square kilometer (almost 15815 acres) development. Its planned location is in the SLCN’s traditional territory in Alberta, Canada.
First-order estimate
The planned scale of the data center, earmarked for a location 130 km southwest of the SLCN’s reserve, is the main point of contention, and the basis for Professor Robert Davies, of the Utah State University.
But his claim over the “23 atomic bombs of energy” demands some clarification.
“Now of course, that’s not explosions, but that’s just trying to get a sense of how much energy we’re talking about,” said Davies in the assessment. “The effect will almost certainly be large, if not extreme.”
He also notes that “every quantitative figure … should be treated as a first-order estimate intended to convey scale, to be confirmed against the developer’s own filings.”
Davies also highlights that the project could be “the largest single-site heat source on the entire planet.”
The assessment, which was prepared for SLCN’s case, emphasizes that it is “not a comprehensive environmental review, a formal expert report, or a legal opinion.”
Robust regulatory process
While Davies’ contribution to the SLCN’s judicial review filing relies on further information from O’Leary Digital, it paints a worrying picture, not least into the effects of the heat waste on the surrounding wildlife.
“I can’t imagine allowing it to go forward without those full assessments,” Davies said, while also criticizing the use of traditional environmental legislation and guidelines for giant data center projects. “When people talk about environmental regulations that these projects have to adhere to, those regulations were not created with anything of this scale in mind.”
Naturally, O’Leary Digital has responded to the filing. CEO Paul Palandjian wrote in an email “We also respect the robust and stringent regulatory process we must follow in advancing Wonder Valley… we’re having productive dialogue with Indigenous communities through consultation and engagement, and we remain committed to that work.”
