US-based bitcoin mining company TeraWulf has launched a new cryptocurrency mining facility in Pennsylvania running entirely on nuclear power generated on-site.
In a March 6 statement, TeraWulf said the Nautilus Cryptomine facility was its first Bitcoin.
A mining facility, which means it uses energy directly where it is generated, without going through the grid. Nautilus Cryptomine draws carbon-free baseload electricity directly from the 2.5 gigawatt (GW) Susquehanna nuclear power plant on site.
TeraWulf chairman and CEO Paul Prager claimed that the Nautilus mining facility now has “arguably the lowest cost electricity in the industry at just $0.02/kWh over a five-year period.”
The company also revealed that they have now launched nearly 8,000 mining rigs representing computing power, or hashrate, or 1.0 exahashes per second (EH/s), and plan to add another 8,000 by May, bringing hashrate The Greek rate is increased to 1.9 EH/s . TeraWulf has a 50 megawatt (MW) share in the first phase of the new facility, a joint venture with Cumulus Coin, but can add an additional 50 MW of BTC mining capacity in future phases.
When completed, Nautilus Cryptomine is expected to be 300 megawatts and will be one of the largest mines in North America, according to TeraWulf's website. First announced in August 2021, the Nautilus Cryptomine facility is the result of a partnership between TeraWulf's nuclear mining facilities subsidiary and power generation and infrastructure company Talen Energy Corporation.
The first phase of the joint venture includes the 180 MW "Nautilus Cryptomine", which will be built in Talen's Digital Infrastructure Park, next to its nuclear power plant.
TeraWulf produces home-grown BTC powered by nuclear, hydro and solar power with the goal of utilizing 100% zero-carbon energy. Concerns about the potential environmental impact of BTC mining have intensified over the past few years as debates have raged around the environmental and energy impacts of crypto asset mining.
Last year, New York signed a two-year moratorium on any new fossil fuel-powered bitcoin miners from setting up shop in the state. Last October, Europe also took regulatory action over the alleged environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.
