Bitfarms, the Bitcoin mining company based in Canada, shared new details of the mega Bitcoin farm of $250 million investment they are building in Argentina. They revealed it is being built in the province of Cordoba because of an association with a private power plant that will bring cost reduction.
Bitfarms, a company listed in Nasqad, became a unicorn last year after surpassing a total value of $1 billion. Recently, they announced the construction of what aims to be the largest Bitcoin mining complex in the country, designed to power 50,000 miners. The exact location had not been released until now.
The Bitcoin mining company signed an 8 years contract with Albanesi, an enterprise group that offers power supply in Argentina. An energy provision will be supplied at the rate of $2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, said Bitfarms’ CEO Emiliano Grodzki, saving 45% of power costs in comparison with Canada’s.
The economic incentive was the main reason to choose the province of Cordoba in Argentina for the large complex, which is reportedly being built inside one of the Albanesi power plant’s centers.
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Argentinian Company PROA S.A. was hired to provide “engineering, procurement, and construction services”, says the PR statement. They will design and lay down the electrical interconnections, high voltage electrical lines, and transformers needed for the complex.
Bitfarms reported earlier a mining power of 1.4 exahash per second and they hope this mega Bitcoin mining farm will take them to reach 8 exahash per second by the end of next year. Damián Polla, general manager of Bitfarms for Latam, commented to the local news portal Infobae:
This is a project for the construction and administration of a data center of up to 210 megawatts. The investment requires the construction of an electrical substation within the existing property of the Maranzana thermal power plant
Bitcoin Mining Is Here For The Long Term
Ben Gagnon Chief mining officer at Birfarms, recently explained the Bitfarms view on Bitcoin mining During the World Digital Mining Summit in Dubai:
Bitfarms has a vision. We are here for the long term. We are building the infrastructure that will power the future Bitcoin economy with vertically integrated operations, decentralised global facilities, clean and cost effective power sources, strong governance, audited and verifiable numbers, and huge amounts of Bitcoin being mined and added to treasury everyday.
Crypto mining companies are on the lookout for amicable places with low power costs where they can build new crypto mining farms and generate great revenue. Texas and El Salvador had been on top of the list up until now.
Argentina is becoming equally attractive because of its locations with abundant energy and low demand where crypto mining companies can benefit from the low cost of idle capacity. Bitfarms’ CEO said this mega Bitcoin mining farm will greatly expand the company’s “capacity and global footprint”.
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However, Bitfarms announcements raised questions and worry amongst Argentinian legislators. In the past month, deputy Martín Berhongaray demanded the Argentinian government to provide clarity about all crypto mining operations in the country and proposed a draft resolution where he asks the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation to detail Bitfarms complex’ energy consumption.
Damián Polla shade some clarity into the deputy’s worries:
We will generate approximately 500 jobs during construction and another 100 during the operation of the data center. This is a contract for the sale of energy between private parties, which does not involve any type of subsidies, taking into account that the demand is not connected to the grid, and uses idle capacity. This is done under a framework agreement with all competent authorities.
