Cryptomining firm Hive Digital Technologies is to build a hydroelectricity-powered cryptomine data center in Paraguay.
The Canadian company, which bills itself as a digital asset miner and "green-focused” data center builder and operator, this week announced its plans for a 100MW cryptomining operation in Paraguay.
Frank Holmes, Hive executive chairman, said: "We are thrilled to announce our plan for a 100MW project in Paraguay, utilizing green and clean energy sourced from the Itaipu hydroelectric dam. This potential opportunity is expected to add up to an additional 6.5 Exahash per second (EH/s) to our Bitcoin mining operations, increasing our global EH/s to 12.1 EH/s.”
The Itaipu Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. Launched in 1984, it is the third largest hydroelectric dam in the world, with 14GW of generating capacity.
Hive, formerly known as Hive Blockchain, said the project will generate $100 million in revenue for the government’s utility company over the next three years. The company said it will offer its “expertise in grid balancing and demand response” to support continued industrial development in Paraguay, while “monetizing surplus or under-monetized power assets.”
Holmes continued: “This represents a significant milestone in our diversified growth strategy and supports our commitment to expanding our global footprint with data center operations in Canada, Sweden, Iceland, and now Paraguay. We are confident that this venture can deliver healthy returns and drive long-term value, fostering economic growth and innovation in the region."
In Canada, Hive currently has a 30MW operation in Lachute, Quebec, and a 70MW site in New Brunswick. The Lachute site reportedly uses its waste heat to warm a 200,000 sq ft factory making swimming pools.
The company also operates a 32MW site in Boden, Sweden, and will soon heat a 90,000 sq ft greenhouse growing tomatoes and cucumbers. The crypto firm also has around 10MW in operation in Iceland; it previously had plans to launch a site in Norway, but these were dropped in 2021.
Hive was founded and went public in 2017. It says it has a fleet of around 38,000 commercial-grade Nvidia GPUs in operation, as well as thousands of Bitcoin-focused ASIC units.
In its most recent financial update, the company generated $3.4 million in HPC revenue for the financial year, compared to $111 million from its crypto operations.
Hive, like many other crypto firms, is currently building out its own enterprise-grade GPU Cloud service, known as Hive Cloud, that is due to launch this year.
