Las Vegas-based BitNile Holdings Inc. says it’s planning to expand the power capacity at its Michigan Data Center in Dowagiac (east of Benton Harbor) to 300 megawatts, which would enable Bitcoin mining operations at the facility to operate approximately 90,000 Bitcoin miners.
Upon the installation of the approximately 90,000 Bitcoin miners, the company’s Bitcoin mining production capacity is anticipated to be approximately 12 exahash per second (EH/s).
At full capacity, the output represents an estimated annualized Bitcoin mining production capacity of approximately 19,600 Bitcoin, or $779 million based on a Bitcoin market price of $41,000 and current market conditions, including a mining difficulty level of 27.55 trillion.
The planned expansion of power capacity, if accomplished, would support the company’s goal to become one of the top 10 publicly traded Bitcoin mining companies in the country.
BitNile has entered into agreements to purchase Bitcoin mining equipment from Bitmain Technologies Ltd. and currently has approximately 2,160 active S19j Pro Antminers at the facility with 300 Bitcoin miners in transit and 18,140 Bitcoin miners on order with presently scheduled monthly deliveries from Bitmain through December 2022.
The Dowagiac facility covers 617,000 square feet and recently was renovated to provide for a 30,000-square-foot data center. To date the company says it has spent more than $100 million on procuring mining equipment and upgrading the data center.
The planned power expansion is part of a multi-year power agreement with a nuclear plant that provides power at a competitive rate for Bitcoin mining coupled with planned “green” alternative power sources. The company has not yet entered into this power agreement but expects to do so in the near future. Actual energy delivered by the utility would, within 18 to 24 months, come from approximately 85 percent emission-free sources. BitNile is exploring off-grid cogeneration of power to extend its overall capacity beyond 300MW.
“We understand the potential of the facility and its infrastructure and look forward to a steady progression in Bitcoin mining production and revenue,” says Milton “Todd” Ault III, founder and executive chairman of BitNile. “The planned expansion of the power capacity at the facility to 300MW over the next 18 to 24 months would, if achieved, enable BitNile to grow its existing partnership with Bitmain while potentially attracting other strategic joint-venture partners, a key component to realizing the full value of the facility, including its data center.”
The digital edition of the March-April 2022 DBusiness includes a cover story and feature package about the rise of cryptocurrency. Click here to read the feature.
