Canada-based DMG Blockchain Solutions, a “diversified blockchain and cryptocurrency company”, announced today that it has begun the installation of its own 85-megawatt capacity electrical substation that will power and enable the expansion of the company’s flagship cryptocurrency mining facility.
The move will position the crypto mining facility as one of the largest in North America allow the company to expand its mining-as-a-service (MaaS) by more than twentyfold. When the substation comes online, it will have 60 megawatts available for powering the facility’s mining rigs.
Building and deploying the substation will cost the company millions of dollars and countless man hours. It is being built near the Southern British Columbia town of Castlegar, which is home to several hydroelectric dams and power stations.
Sheldon Bennett, DMG Blockchain’s COO, noted:
Building and managing a cryptomining operation at an industrial scale requires a world-class supply chain as well as direct access to local government and electricity providers. Our management team at DMG is unique in that we have the experience, the relationships, and the capital backing to do this successfully.
There’s Power in Them Thar Hills!
Like the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s, miners are scrambling to set up shop and strike it rich, only this time it isn’t gold they’re seeking – it’s cheap electricity. As falling prices and increased power usage cut into profit margins and regulatory uncertainties render mining companies’ home countries inhospitable, miners are seeking alternatives.
Some crypto mining companies are moving to locations where cooler climates and the ready availability of hydroelectric power offer rock-bottom electricity prices, while others are exploring green options like wind turbines and solar panels to power their mining equipment. And then you have companies like DMG Blockchain who are taking their power needs into their own hands.
DMG isn’t the only mining company to do something like this. Just yesterday, it was announced that Bitmain is planning to build a bitcoin mining facility in an abandoned power plant in the small Texas town of Rockdale. And just to round things out, back in June, California-based 3G Venture II paid $13 million for part of an abandoned Intel chip plant in Colorado Springs, which it also intends to turn into a crypto mining facility. The big draw? That particular plant came with its own substation and two separate power feeds.
DMG Blockchain’s substation is expected to come online sometime in September 2018. Steven Eliscu, DMG’s head of corporate development, told Motherboard:
At the end of August we’ll go through a commissioning process where the utility will test everything as a completed substation and make sure that the town doesn’t blow up when we flip the switch.
We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for you, Mr. Eliscu.
What do you think of DMG Blockchain setting up their own substation to address their power needs? Will we see more mining companies follow suit in the future? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of DMG Blockchain, Historynotes.org