The City of Sherbrooke has given municipal approval to agreements that would let Keel Infrastructure consolidate and operate 96 megawatts of existing electrical capacity and acquire land for a new data‑centre campus, the company said in a release Wednesday.
What the municipal approval covers
Under the arrangement approved by the city, Keel may enter into a contract with Hydro‑Sherbrooke for the transfer and operation of 96 MW of capacity. The transfer is now subject to review and approval by Quebec’s Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), the company said.
- Power consolidation: Keel will consolidate power from three existing Bitcoin‑mining sites into a single 96 MW campus.
- No new power requested: The company did not seek additional electrical capacity, saying the plan makes use of existing infrastructure.
- Recategorization of use: The 96 MW would be reclassified from cryptocurrency mining to high‑performance computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
- Land purchase: Keel has a purchase agreement for a parcel of land roughly 100 miles east of Montréal to host the development; the sale remains subject to inspections, feasibility studies and municipal approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.
Company statement and local implications
Keel framed the approvals as a major step for the Sherbrooke project. In the announcement, the firm’s executive vice‑president for corporate development said the city’s sign‑off reflects the project’s strength and Keel’s commitment to the regional economy.
"These developments represent an important step forward in the development of our Sherbrooke project, which will be one of the largest data center projects in Québec," the company said.
The project would convert existing energy allocations and infrastructure used for cryptocurrency operations to support high‑performance computing and AI workloads. That recategorization changes the profile of energy demand and the types of commercial activity tied to the site, though the company emphasised it is using current capacity rather than requesting more power from the grid.
Next steps and regulatory review
The municipal decision does not complete the process. The transfer and change of use must clear the provincial review by MEIE, and the land purchase remains conditional on standard closing items such as site inspections and local approvals. If those steps proceed on schedule, Keel expects the land transaction to close in the first quarter of 2027.
| Item | Status |
|---|---|
| City approval to negotiate with Hydro‑Sherbrooke | Granted |
| Provincial review (MEIE) for capacity transfer | Pending |
| Land purchase for campus | Under purchase agreement; expected close Q1 2027 (conditions apply) |
The announcement ties into broader shifts in the company’s strategy, converting existing cryptocurrency‑mining capacity to data‑centre purposes. For Sherbrooke, the immediate effects will depend on the outcome of the provincial review and the conditions attached to the land sale: those approvals will determine timing, local construction activity and any longer‑term economic impacts.
InfoRadar will follow provincial decisions and any municipal permitting processes as they develop.
