Google has announced plans to build its first Canadian data centre in Beauharnois, Québec.
Whilst Google already has 14 data centres located across North America this $600 million USD ($735 million CAD) represents a significant investment into its digital infrastructure in Canada.
Google has made public commitments to its data centres being powered exclusively by renewable sources, and has been carbon neutral since 2007. Québec is well positioned to answer the challenge of large-scale green electricity generation as hydroelectric power is one of the few sustainable sources of energy that suit the needs of the data centre sector, without the requiring large scale energy storage schemes.
DC Byte believes that other countries with significant sources of non-intermittent renewable power will also now benefit from similar large scale data centre development investments, and expect to see interest in these countries increasing in the short-medium term as investors explore options beyond the traditional locations
