Engie-Cipher Contract Might Co-Locate Wind Power with Cryptocurrency Mining in Texas

    May 15, 2025
    The company undertakes industrial-scale data center construction and operations, allocating resources toward bitcoin mining and high-performance computing services such as artificial intelligence.
    Texas wind farm. Image credit ENGIE
    Texas wind farm. Image credit ENGIE

    ENGIE North America will commit 300 MW of its nearby wind energy generation to offset cryptocurrency mining operations in Texas.

    Cipher Mining has signed a preliminary power supply agreement with ENGIE North America to contract the wind power for a co-located Cipher data center. The proximity of the renewable power to the mining data center would eliminate the need for additional electric transmission investment and minimize grid congestion in the region.

    "ENGIE is committed to pursuing innovative solutions that maximize the value of renewable generation and improving cost effectiveness of delivering clean energy supply to our customers," said David Carroll, Chief Renewables Officer & SVP, ENGIE North America. "We are focused on meeting the growing need for power by our customers as they expand their operations in the U.S. and renewables is an essential part of supplying this increasing demand."

    Cipher, the Bitcoin mining operation of Bitfury, was spun off and taken public after merging with a special acquisition company in 2021. The merger value was estimated at $2 billion.

    The company undertakes industrial-scale data center construction and operations, allocating resources toward bitcoin mining and high-performance computing services such as artificial intelligence. Its board of directors is chaired by James Newsome, former president of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    Blockchain and cryptocurrency mining are energy intensive due to the amount of calculations performed in each other. A 2023 report by the Climate Portal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimated that 13 publicly listed mining companies emitted 397 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour, eventually resulting in a forecast of about 7.2 metric tons per year.

    Another data center developer, Soluna Holdings, announced plans earlier this year to co-locate a 100-MW facility with a 145-MW wind farm in south Texas. 

     

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.