Terawulf, a bitcoin mining operation, has announced that it has energized the first nuclear-powered bitcoin mining facility in the United States at the company’s Nautilus Facility in Pennsylvania. According to the company, approximately 1 exahash per second (EH/s) or close to 8,000 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) bitcoin miners are now online, and another 8,000 mining rigs will be delivered shortly.
Nuclear-Powered Bitcoin Mining — A Milestone for Carbon-Free Bitcoin Mining
Terawulf announced on Monday that the first behind-the-meter bitcoin mining facility powered by nuclear energy has been energized, with nearly 8,000 ASIC mining rigs now operational. The current 8,000 account for 1 EH/s of SHA256 hashpower, but Terawulf expects to deploy another 8,000 miners in the coming weeks to reach 1.9 EH/s by May. According to the company’s press release about the Nautilus energization, Terawulf will receive a fixed electricity rate of around $0.02 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the next five years.
The Nautilus facility is considered a milestone as it is the first bitcoin mining facility of its kind to receive carbon-free energy 24/7 from the 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. “With the recent energization of the Nautilus facility earlier this month, approximately 16,000 of Terawulf’s owned miners, representing 1.9 EH/s of self-mining capacity, are on-site and being brought online daily,” said Paul Prager, the chairman and CEO of Terawulf, in a statement. “The Nautilus nuclear-powered mining facility benefits from what is arguably the lowest cost power in the sector, just $0.02/kWh for a term of five years.”
While 2022 was rough on bitcoin mining operations, 2023 has been easier on bitcoin miners due to a significant rise in the price of bitcoin (BTC) since the end of last year. Additionally, several firms are expanding mining operations, with some locating to Pennsylvania. Seven days ago, Mawson Infrastructure Group launched a mining operation based in Pennsylvania after exiting Australia. In addition to the 50-MW Nautilus facility, Terawulf announced that it is expanding operations at its Lake Mariner facility in New York. This move will increase the Lake Mariner operation from 60 MW to 110 MW.
What impact do you think the increasing adoption of nuclear power in bitcoin mining will have on the cryptocurrency industry and the environment? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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