Old-fashioned fuel for driving new technology – Bitcoin mining
In part two of Action 16 Investigates: Crypto, a look at how cryptocurrencies already play a role in the economy of our area.
NESQUEHONING, PA – More than a century ago, coal miners helped settle the valley in Carbon County, home to Nesquehoning.
Now the remnants of this coal mining past are being used to power a new type of miner – thousands of data servers stored in shipping containers on the property of a power plant along Nesquehoning Creek.
That’s the idea of entrepreneur Bill Spence. His company, Stronghold Digital Mining, has turned the place into a bitcoin mine. It is still a functioning power plant that uses old-fashioned fuel to power a new technology.
The servers are powered by something we are used to seeing just sitting in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Stronghold burns coal waste that is sent in from all over the state.
“We are getting rid of a problem that is otherwise only covered or brushed aside. These piles have been here for hundreds of years, and I like to think that bitcoin and cryptocurrency play a big role now in getting rid of these sites,” he said. Spence.
Spence receives government funding to help remove coal waste. The plant goes through 90,000 tons per day.
Cleaning up coal waste is Spence’s passion. Cryptocurrency is what he says helps make the business profitable. About 24,000 servers are constantly running calculations to earn bitcoin, which can be turned into cash.
But the servers shut down when the network needs power, and the coal waste is then used to run homes instead. Spence said it happens at least a few hours every day.
“What we have been able to do with cryptocurrency is to maintain it so that we are able to drive and also support the web on it, day in and day out, when they call us or need us to drive,” he said. he to. .
The Carbon County power plant previously had 17 employees. Under Stronghold, it has more than 70.
“We have young boys here in the crypto farm who have technology degrees, and we have some pretty tough old hens like me out in the coal plant who work, so it looks like they get along and work well together,” Spence said.
The Nesquehoning facility is not the only place or the only type of energy used to extract bitcoin in our area.
The company that owns the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station near Berwick is building a bitcoin mine right next to the cooling towers.
It will be called Nautilus Crypto Mine.
John Augustine, president and CEO of economic development agency Penn’s Northeast, says bitcoin can help the Salem Township nuclear power plant survive.
“There are hundreds of workers at that plant, and we’ve seen other nuclear plants nearby, so when you can strengthen the economic base, it’s a big thing,” Augustine said.
The plant’s owner, Talen Energy, hopes to start extracting bitcoin by the end of this year – new technology that meets the area’s industrial past.
“A couple of hundred years later, that legacy of mining continues only in a completely different, digital way,” Augustine added.
Watch Part 1 of Stacy’s survey on YouTube:
