Greenidge generator plans to expand the number of renewable energy sources available in New York by using profits from its Bitcoin mining procedure.
Greenidge Generation, a bitcoin mining startup, plans to expand the number of renewable energy sources available in New York.
Greenidge announced on Thursday that it would use the revenues from its Bitcoin (BTC) miners in New York’s Finger Lakes region to hasten the closure of a neighbouring coal ash landfill.
The business intends to turn the Lockwood Hills property into a solar farm with a capacity of 5 megawatts.
The project is “making additional renewable energy a reality by utilizing Bitcoin mining proceeds to fund the building of a new solar farm at a landfill site,” according to Greenidge CEO Jeff Kirt.
The solar farm, according to the company, will create high-tech jobs for citizens and assist local companies.
The new energy source might potentially be used to supplement the capacity of the company’s Seneca Lake Bitcoin facility, which plans to deploy 85 MW to crypto mining by next year.
Previously, the facility was fueled by coal, but it is now apparently powered by natural gas.
The mining company claims to operate BTC mining operations that are “100% carbon-neutral,” with ambitions to expand to South Carolina as soon as this year.
By 2025, Greenidge hopes to have a total operational capacity of at least 500 MW across numerous sites.
Greenidge’s critics, notably the environmental group Seneca Lake Guardian, argue that the mining business’s operations are not as environmentally beneficial as they appear, claiming that the company relies on fracking-produced natural gas.
Greenidge has also been blamed by locals for the rising temperatures in Seneca Lake, stating that it discharged overheated water.