By Alvaro Murillo

SAN PEDRO DE POAS in Costa Rica (Reuters). A tiny river running through coffee plantations, sugarcane fields, and a forest supplies energy for a hydroelectric power station in Costa Rica. It feeds hundreds upon computers that are connected to the crypto mining industry.

Over 650 machines belonging to 150 customers are operated non-stop by eight containers that power the Poas River plant. It is 35 km (22 miles) away from San Jose. The capital of the country, which almost all its energy comes from renewable sources, and it powers more than half the nation’s electricity.

After 30 years, the plant had to reinvent itself because the Central American government cut off electricity purchases during the Pandemic. This was due to a surplus of power in Central America. The state holds a monopoly over energy distribution.

Eduardo Kooper is the president of the family company that controls the farm Data Center CR on 60 hectares and the plant.

I was initially skeptical, but then we realized that the business requires a lot energy. We have an excess.

With three hydroelectric plants worth $13.5million and three Megawatts of power, the company invested $500,000 in digital mining.

Kooper claimed that foreign cryptocurrency miners seek cheap and reliable electricity, as well the stability of an internet connection. Costa Rica, he said, has both. He said that Costa Rica should try harder to attract crypto mining businesses, but he did not give any specifics.

A request for comments was not received by the government.

Costa Rica doesn’t have any specific regulations for crypto currencies, as El Salvador did in September 2021, when it became the first country worldwide to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender.

Costa Rica’s central banking said that it provided space for technological innovation in order to permit a Fintech market to emerge and was continuously monitoring developments.

Data Center CR has so far only served local customers, like Mauricio Rodrigo, a 31 year-old computer security expert who started digital mining in order to make extra cash from home, and has equipment worth $7,000.

He concluded, “Installing it at this place is far more lucrative than at home”, after connecting his computer with the network at river-powered plants.