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Documents released by the Rural Municipality of Sherwood revealed where the expansion of Bell Canada’s AI Fabric data centre will be located.
A special council meeting, to be held virtually, is scheduled for Wednesday morning. Council is expected to consider first reading of bylaws to rezone 895 acres from agricultural to light industrial, along with the addition of Bell’s plans to the Official Community Plan.
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The administration report says the affected land is east and south of the existing data centre site, extending south to the Highway 1 Bypass.
A map included with the agenda shows a road connecting the original site with the expansion. According to the report, this would be the only access to the expansion site.
Bell’s application said that in addition to the six buildings in the original plan, up to nine additional data centre buildings would be constructed from 2027 through 2030 or later, bringing the full capacity of the campus to 1.2 GW.
This map shows the full area, shaded in yellow, to be occupied by Bell’s AI Fabric data centre. (R.M. of Sherwood/Submitted)
“Buildings would be single-storey, approximately 10 metres high, set behind 4-metre landscaped berms and served by an internal access road from the existing campus,” the application said.
It added that Bell has conditional purchase agreements for the land in place.
“The purchase is conditional on approval by the Farm Land Security Board and on rezoning; the expansion also requires a development agreement with the RM and a provincial environmental impact assessment before operations,” the application read.
It also says the natural gas power plant needed for the project will be built “at a location further from Regina.”
The report reiterated that the expanded project will not need municipal water for cooling. Municipal water will only be used for domestic purposes at the data centre, like washrooms and kitchens.
If council passes the first reading of the two bylaws, the next steps will be a public notice and a public hearing.
