PowerBank Launches 2 MW Modular Data Center in Ontario, Canada, With First Tenant Lease Signed

PowerBank Corporation said on October 29, 2026, that its joint development partner has executed the first lease for a 2 MW modular data center in Ontario, the initial site in a planned series across the province.

The Toronto-based independent energy developer, listed on Nasdaq, Cboe CA, and the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker PBK, said the facility is in development under a joint development agreement with its partner.

A Powered Shell for an AI Cloud Tenant

PowerBank expects to earn revenue by leasing the project's powered shell to an AI cloud operator, which would install and run its own GPUs.

If a tenant is secured on the terms assumed in the announcement, and the project is permitted, financed, constructed, and operational, the facility could generate approximately USD 1.43 million in annual lease revenue. That figure would be shared between PowerBank and its partner under the joint development agreement.

The company has not yet entered into an agreement with a tenant for the project's capacity. It stated that it is in discussions with several potential tenants.

Capacity and Cost for High-Density Inference

The Case for Distributed Compute PowerBank presents the project as a response to a shift in how AI compute is deployed.

Citing McKinsey & Company, the company said that as AI moves from training large models to running them for businesses and consumers, inference is projected to account for approximately 60% of AI compute demand by 2030 and to grow at roughly 36% per year. McKinsey expects inference compute to be spread across cloud, enterprise, edge, and device, with location determined by economics, latency, and data control.

The company pointed to workloads such as real-time video analytics, industrial automation, and voice and physical AI, which it said perform best when compute sits close to where data is generated rather than in a distant hyperscale campus.

The announcement also cited Grand View Research, which estimates that the global edge data center market will reach USD 105.8 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual rate of 14.9% from 2026. North America accounted for the largest regional share at 35.5% in 2025.

PowerBank identified power access as a gating factor for new capacity, noting that large-load interconnection queues are stretching for years in many North American markets.

Modular edge data centers that connect to existing generation and distribution infrastructure address both needs, the company argued, by placing compute near users while using power that is already available.

Management Comment

"Compute is following power, and the companies that already have power on the ground are the ones that will win the next phase of AI," said Dr. Richard Lu, Chief Executive Officer of PowerBank.

"This first lease shows our model at work: an energy site we have already developed now positioned to earn a second revenue stream from AI infrastructure. As inference moves closer to the people and businesses who use it, North America will need many smaller data centers built in months, not a handful of giant campuses built over years. PowerBank's portfolio is positioned for exactly that shift, and we expect this to be the first of many sites we advance with our partner."

Permits Pending, Operations Targeted for Fiscal 2028

The project is expected to require a zoning by-law amendment and a building permit from the local municipality. The parties are coordinating a pre-consultation meeting with the municipality to confirm these and any other requirements. None of the approvals has been obtained.

Subject to receiving the required approvals, construction is expected to take approximately 8 to 12 months. Commercial operation is currently anticipated in PowerBank's fiscal year 2028, which ends June 30, 2028.

Competition and Forward-Looking Caveats

PowerBank cautioned that the market for AI data center capacity is highly competitive. The project will compete for tenants with other data center developers and operators, including colocation providers and developers of modular and edge facilities.

Prospective tenants will in turn compete with hyperscale cloud providers, established AI cloud providers, and government-supported compute initiatives, many of which have significantly greater resources, scale, and operating capacity.

The approximately USD 1.43 million annual lease revenue figure is a financial outlook that PowerBank said is intended to help investors, shareholders, and others understand certain financial metrics relating to the project.

The company noted that the information may not be appropriate for other purposes, is forward-looking, and should be read together with the disclosure in the press release, including the economic, competitive, and regulatory assumptions, factors, and risks that could cause actual results to differ from current expectations.