Tesla, Block, Blockstream to mine bitcoin off solar power in Texas
[ad_1]
This drone photo shows solar panels at Impact Solar Facility in Deport Texas. It was taken July 15, 2021.
Reuters| Reuters
MIAMI — Blockstream and Jack Dorsey’s BlockSquare, previously Square, is now building a battery-powered, solar-powered, bitcoin mine in Texas. It uses both solar energy and storage technology. Tesla.
Tesla’s 12 megawatt Megapack and 3.8 megawatt PV array will provide power for the facility.
Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back, a British cryptographer and a member of the “cypherpunk” crew, told CNBC on the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami that the mining facility is designed to be a proof of concept for 100% renewable energy bitcoin mining at scale.
People enjoy arguing about all aspects of bitcoin mining. Let’s prove it, we thought. Back stated, “Make sure you have an open dashboard that people can use to join the game. It might even be able to inform others players about it.”
It will display real-time data about the project’s performance including power output as well as total bitcoin mined. According to the company, a newer version will include data on storage and solar performance.
Back declared, “This proves our thesis that Bitcoin mining can finance zero-emission electricity infrastructure and foster economic growth in the future.”
Economic improvement of renewables
West Texas has the highest concentration of renewable energy in America.
Shaun Connell from Lancium, a Houston-based technology company, said that there is a perfect overlap between sun quality in West Texas and wind speed.
However, a large portion of this wind and solar energy is located in the farthest reaches of the state. There is no incentive to invest in renewable energy infrastructure.
Bitcoin miners are available. These energy buyers can co-locate together with renewables to create a financial incentive and increase the core economics for renewable power generation, which is fraught with volatility.
Nic Carter, from Castle Island Venture says that miners are a demand for these semi-stranded assets. This makes renewables in Texas financially viable.
West Texas is limited by its 34 gigawatts power and demand. It also has only 12 gigawatts transmission. Bitcoin miners can be thought of as temporary buyers that keep energy assets functional until they are fully absorbed by the grid.
Back explained that an off-grid mining operation, which is expected to be complete later this year highlights another essential tenet in bitcoin’s network. Miners are not limited by their location and can operate from “anywhere” without any local infrastructure.
Back indicated that, if the project is successful in the pilot stage, Back will add wind power to it and scale the entire thing.
Back explained that Back was doing a calculation to determine the best economic mix of solar and battery. Back said, “There are 3.8 Megawatts of solar, one megawatt mining. So you see that you must overprovision. Because the peak solar output varies throughout the day and is not as high at night, then you will need more.”
The addition of wind would help reduce costs as well as balance out any downtime caused by solar.
Blockstream stated that the ultimate goal of the company is to diversify the energy resources and strengthen bitcoin’s network.
“By joining forces on the full-stack 100% solar-powered Bitcoin mining project with Blockstream and using Tesla storage technology and solar power, we will further accelerate bitcoin’s synergy to renewables,” Neil Jorgensen is Block’s global ESG lead and project leader for Block’s Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative.
[ad_2]