Crypto power plant produces Bitcoin for 45 million dollars instead of electricity for tens of thousands

A US natural gas power plant uses the energy produced there to mine Bitcoin. That brings in tens of millions of dollars every month. Environmentalists: inside doesn’t like that at all.

Mining cryptocurrencies consumes a lot of energy. The annual electricity consumption of Bitcoin mining alone is almost the same as that of the Netherlands. The current Bitcoin rally ensures that mining on a large scale is still worthwhile. After the crackdown in China, Bitcoin mining companies are currently targeting coal-fired power plants in the US. Environmental protection organizations have now drawn attention to a natural gas power plant, which is an example of a feared renaissance of fossil fuels.

The former Greenidge Generation coal-fired power plant in Dresden, New York State, was converted into a natural gas power plant between 2014 and 2017 with funding of two million US dollars. The power plant has been burning natural gas obtained from fracking to generate electricity for around four years. Because the energy demand in the area is actually well covered, the operating company preferred to put the self-produced energy into a Bitcoin mining farm, which has also been continuously expanded.

According to one ABC News report the power plant has a maximum capacity of 106 megawatts. Most recently, 44 megawatts are said to have been used there to operate a total of 15,300 computer servers dedicated to mining. That would normally be enough to supply 35,000 households with electricity, as ABC News writes. Instead, 729 Bitcoin are said to have been mined in the power plant between the beginning of July and the end of September. At a current Bitcoin exchange rate of around $ 62,000, over $ 45 million could have been generated.

The environmentalists are now sounding the alarm. In addition to the general negative effects on CO2 emissions, the natural gas power plant is also intended to damage the environment locally. The power plant takes cooling water from Seneca Lake and feeds heated water back into a nearby river. Organizations are also concerned about air pollution. The operating company meanwhile insists that its power plant generate the energy in a CO2-neutral manner. However, this only works by purchasing the relevant certificates.

According to the environmentalists: there are 30 power plants in the US state of New York alone that are also suitable for Bitcoin mining. It is therefore demanded that Governor Kathy Hochul should not extend existing permits and not issue new potential crypto power plants, such as the one Standard reports. The environmental protection organizations are even calling for mining activities to be stopped.