With the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, Bitcoin (BTC) mining has become increasingly popular, and the initial nuclear-powered data centre in the United States that will host Bitcoin mining facilities was recently constructed. World Nuclear News announced on January 18 that zero-carbon data centre builder Cumulus Data, a sister company of independent energy generator Talen Energy, has finished the powered casing for its initial data centre driven by a 2.5-gigawatt nuclear power plant.
The 48-megawatt, 300,000-square-foot data centre is directly linked to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in northeast Pennsylvania. Its 1,200-acre site will be the initial in the United States to accommodate Bitcoin mining and cloud computing capabilities. Cumulus Data and Talen Energy CEO Alex Hernandez commented on the advancement: “Our premier Cumulus Susquehanna data centre facility is poised to greet its initial tenant and begin commercial operations in 2023. We expect to expand our objective to tackle the energy “trilemma,” which we describe as the fast-rising need for zero-carbon, cost-effective, and dependable power among data centre clients.
In conjunction with one 48-megawatt powered shell, two others are in active construction as part of stage 1 of the venture, with a total campus capacity of 475 megawatts anticipated. Cumulus Data has also discovered 18 more Talen Energy locations with the possibility for data centres directly linked to the power plant.
The construction of the zero-carbon Bitcoin mining centre known as the Nautilus Cryptomine on the campus was revealed for the initial time in August 2021, when Talen Energy inked a collaboration agreement with the U.S. crypto mining company TeraWulf. Even though the building of the Bitcoin mine was temporarily halted at the start of December of 2022, TeraWulf recently announced that it has begun ratcheting up its mining activities and aims to offer 50 megawatts of effective mining capability in the first quarter of 2023.
In an additional low-cost Bitcoin mining initiative, the Virunga National Park in eastern Congo is mining Bitcoin utilizing hydro-electricity to generate the funds necessary to safeguard the forests and wildlife in Africa’s longest surviving guarded park, which has been impacted by years of militia conflict, habitat destruction, and insufficient government support.
With the use of solar panels, carbon-free Bitcoin mining is also achievable utilizing sunshine. To run in this manner, an Antiminer S19, which consumes 72 kWh per day, would need a 14 kWh solar system, or around 35 regular 400-watt solar panels. Peter Egyed, better known as AZ Hodl, installed an off-grid solar module for his Bitcoin mining enterprise in March 2022, for which he anticipated a return on investment (ROI) in 36 months.
