Block and Blockstream have enlisted help from Tesla and have gained momentum on a solar- and battery-powered Bitcoin mine. This mine will use solar and storage technology from Tesla. The facility will be supported by the EV maker’s 3.8 megawatts solar PV array and 12 megawatt-hour Megapack.
The Bitcoin mine is situated in West Texas, which is highly regarded for its high number of sunny days and sufficient wind speed. This state is fast emerging as a hub for renewable energy in the United States. Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure provider company, said the mine will be completed later this year. It will provide the mining infrastructure for the facility.
Blockstream will also provide regular reports on the economics of the project through a publicly-accessible dashboard. The dashboard will highlight real-time metrics of the facility’s performance, including power output and Bitcoin mined. It will also show solar, storage performance data points, and uptime metrics. Blockstream highlighted that the combination of Tesla photovoltaics and Megapack battery equipment will push the 30 petahashes per second of mining hardware at the facility with 100% solar energy.
Neil Jorgensen, the global ESG lead at Block, had highlighted that the project would serve as an ongoing, transparent case study to allow the company to learn the specific unit of the economics of clean energy Bitcoin mining. This project is a $12 million initiative. Block has said in June 2021 that it will invest $5 million toward the mining facility. This is part of the company’s broader goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.
