The bitcoin mining company, Riot Blockchain, will make a power station in Texas that will supply up to 1.7 gigawatts of energy.
Bitcoin mining is a very energy-intensive activity, but that won’t be an issue for Riot Blockchain Inc. This U.S. mining company decided to build its own electrical substation in Texas to get higher profits.
On April 27, Riot Blockchain Inc, a bitcoin mining company established in 2000, declared its intentions to build a 1.7 gigawatt (“GW”) electrical substation in Navarro County, Texas, to fulfill the electricity demands of its mining gear without compromising the city’s power grid.
To put things in perspective, a station of this capacity could be enough to supply the electricity consumption of more than 2 million citizens and mitigate the emission of 600,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year. Hence, Riot will have enough energy to power the more than 4 buildings they expect to build in the next two years to install their mining farms.
The substation will be active by mid-2023.
According to Riot, the project’s first step should be fully operational by July 2023, providing accommodation for different immersion-cooled mining machines.
The substation project is already underway, and the first step will kick off with an initial capacity of 400 megawatts (“MW”). It will then be increased by an extra 600 MW through switchgear located 1,250 feet away from the plant.
This station will have an initial cost of around $333 million and will help generate more than 270 direct jobs in Navarro County.
Is Texas Pro-Bitcoin?
The city of Fort Worth, Texas was the first U.city to mine bitcoin using three S9 Antminers donated by the Texas Blockchain Council.
This initiative has the backing of Mayor Mattie Parker, who told that energy costs could be mitigated by bitcoins acquired through mining. She also suggested that future investments in this type of activity depend heavily on an in-depth evaluation that will take place within the next 6 months.
So just like El Salvador with its Bitcoin Law is an interesting experiment that many financial associations are following, Texas is slowly becoming the guinea pig for the Bitcoin mining industry both American and global.