Cryptocurrrency finance firm BitNile Holdings will expand the power capacity at its Michigan data center to 300 MW.
The ramp-up in power will enable the facility to operate about 90,000 Bitcoin miners. In the relatively new and complex world of cryptocurrency, at least to those of us unfamiliar with it, this essentially means that BitNile’s mining functions could achieve production capacity of about 19,600 Bitcoin, or approximately $775 million value at current market levels.
Once the power expansion is operational, BitNile said in its release, the company would become of the top 10 publicly traded Bitcoin mining firms in the U.S. Bitcoin is currently trading at about $37,725 per Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency mining requires intensive amounts of energy to complete transactions. The Michigan plant expansion is part of a proposed multi-year power agreement with a nuclear plant that could be coupled with other clean energy resources. Nuclear power is carbon-free.
BitNile hopes to have 85 percent of its power generation need coming from emission-free resources. The company also is exploring off-grid cogeneration (heat and power) resources to extend capacity beyond 300 MW.
“We understand the potential of the facility and its infrastructure and look forward to a steady progression in Bitcoin mining production and revenue,” BitNile founder and Executive Chairman Milton “Todd” Ault III said in a statement. “The planned expansion of the power capacity at the Facility to 300 MW over the next 18 to 24 months would, if achieved, enable BitNile to grow its existing partnership with Bitmain while potentially attracting other strategic joint-venture partners, a key component to realizing the full value of the Facility, including its Data Center.”
Bitmain Technologies is the Bitcoin mining equipment provider. It will provide approximately 2,160 active S19j Pro Antminers (pictured) for the facility. The miners are essentially fast-moving calculation machines which can cost an average $10,000 to $15,000 per machine..
BitNile has invested more than $100 million on procuring the mining equipment and upgrading the 617,000 square-foot facility.
One Bitcoin transaction can consume 1,500 to 1,700 kWh in power, according to various reports. The speed is measured by a hash rate, with 1mnash/s indicating one million calculations per second, for example.
