Riot Blockchain (RIOT) Announces Groundbreaking at 1 GW Data Center Facility in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
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Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) (“Riot” or the “Company”), an industry leader in Bitcoin (“BTC”) mining and data center hosting, is pleased to announce that it has officially broken ground on the Company’s 1 gigawatt (“ GW”) expansion project (“The Corsicana Facility”) in Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas.
“This groundbreaking marks a significant step forward in demonstrating Riot’s ongoing commitment to positively impacting the rural communities in which we operate,” said Chad Harris, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer at Riot. “The development of the Corsicana facility builds on the success of our 700 megawatt Rockdale facility and, when completed, will bring Riot’s market-leading position to a total of 1.7 GW of developed capacity. We look forward to strengthening existing relationships and building new collaborative partnership as we embark on building this new development.”
Local and state officials and Riot employees gathered to celebrate the company’s groundbreaking ceremony in Corsicana on Tuesday, October 18. The first phase of the Corsicana facility will consist of 400 megawatts (“MW”), with self-extraction and data center operations expected to begin by the fourth quarter of 2023.
“This groundbreaking marks the next era of industrial development in Corsicana and Navarro County that promises to create new economic opportunities and improve the quality of life for the region,” said John Boswell Director of Economic Development for Corsicana and Navarro County. “The positive impact created by this project will be felt by our community for some time.”
The Corsicana plant’s total capacity of 1 GW is approved by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”). To the company’s knowledge, this is the first 1 GW load ever approved by ERCOT and is a testament to Riot’s partnership-driven approach, commitment to transparency, well-capitalized position and successful track record of executing large-scale electrical infrastructure deployments.
The first phase of the Corsicana facility’s development is expected to directly lead to the creation of approx. 270 jobs and will position Riot as one of the largest employers in Corsicana, leading to significant positive economic benefits in Navarro County. As demonstrated by the company’s success at its 700 MW Rockdale facility, Riot expects the development of the Corsicana facility to lead to the creation of a number of high-skill career track employment opportunities in the local community.
The first phase of the Corsicana facility’s development is expected to consist of four 100 MW buildings using immersion cooling technology similar to that already in place at Riot’s Rockdale facility. The company expects that 200MW of the initial total of 400MW will be dedicated to the company’s self-mining business, with the remainder reserved to expand Riot’s data center hosting business with large-scale institutional customers.
