Tesla, Blockstream and Jack Dorsey’s Block have partnered to build a solar-powered bitcoin mining facility in West Texas. The facility will be powered by a 12 megawatt-hour megapack and Tesla’s 3.8 megawatt solar PV array.
On the sidelines of the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back, a member of the “Cypherpunk” crew and a British cryptographer, told CNBC that the new mining facility was designed to prove the concept. Bitcoin mining can be done using 100% renewable energy.
Back said:
“People like to argue about the various factors with bitcoin mining. We figured, let’s prove it. Having an open dashboard so people can play along, maybe it can inform other players to participate. could.”
Interestingly, the team responsible for the bitcoin mining facility will also create a dashboard to allow the general public to participate and receive real-time metrics on how the project is performing regarding the number of bitcoins and electricity generation. The dashboard is also expected to show solar and storage performance data points.
Back said:
“This is a step forward to prove our thesis that bitcoin mining can fund zero-emissions electricity infrastructure and create economic growth for the future.”
Adopting Renewable Energy in Crypto
To improve the renewable energy economy in West Texas, which is currently the center of renewable energy in the United States, it is important to harness energy from the sun and wind, with the latter playing a major role during the night.
However, the remote part of the state is heavily concentrated solar and wind power and needs more financial incentives that will create more infrastructure to harness the energy in the region.
It is important to note that energy buyers play a major role in the economic development of renewable energy generation by making it more viable in the state.
However, bitcoin miners are only temporary buyers to ensure that the energy asset awaits full grid adoption as the West Texas facility is limited to only 34 GW of electricity, 12 GW of transmission and 5 GW of demand.
Back noted that the off-grid mine would be completed later in the year where miners would be able to mine from anywhere without local infrastructure. If the project shows some benefit, the company will scale up by adding wind power.
Back said:
“You’re calculating the optimal economic mix between solar and battery is 3.8 MW of solar and one MW of mining, so you can see that you have to provision more, because peak solar input varies during the day and is, of course, fixed. Apparently, it doesn’t happen over night.”
This will reduce the cost as well as combat the downtime of the solar.
Blockstream stated that the main goal is to strengthen the bitcoin network by expanding crypto energy sources.