Two giants of the bitcoin mining world — Atlas Technologies and Compute North — are partnering up to take advantage of an unprecedented time to expand their US operations just as interest in US mining is at an all-time high.
Serious chip shortages and backed-up supply lines resulting in equipment shortages are giving companies with ASICs like Atlas Technologies a step up in negotiating new infrastructure space.
Atlas Technology Group, a multi-purpose data technology and mining company is adding 100 MW power generated by the latest model ASICs to Compute North’s US facilities with miners ready to go online starting Q1 of next year.
Once all miners are online, Atlas expects the new rigs to be producing approximately 3.7 EH/s (exahashes per second).
Atlas Mining
Based in Singapore, Atlas mining is one of the largest players in Bitcoin with operations in North America and Central Asia and “offers a broad range of value-added services including mining, high-performance computing, hosting, and cloud services…one of the largest and most efficient service providers in data computing and storage,” according to its website.
Going forward, Atlas is hoping to expand its mining operations around the globe, including in Northern Europe, South America, and Africa. In the announcement today, Atlas Chair Raymond Yuan said:
“We are pleased to name Compute North as our trusted hosting provider and are committed to building a strong, long-term relationship. Atlas operates its mining business globally and highly values the partnership with local companies, like Compute North, who share our vision for sustainability and environmental responsibility.”
Compute North
Compute North, a data center and bitcoin mining giant headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, has mining facilities in Big Spring, Texas; Kearney, Nebraska; and North Sioux City, South Dakota.
The company uses a data center design that lets it control the amount of power at each of its facilities as needed so it can offer more stability as local power grids onboard more renewable energy.
“We’re proud that Compute North’s focus on sustainable mining solutions factored into Atlas Mining’s decision to partner with us for its upcoming U.S. deployment,” said Dave Perrill, CEO of Compute North in the announcement today.
“Our pioneering TIER 0™ data center design creates significant cost efficiencies and establishes us as a critical partner to the overall stability of local power grids as they bring more renewables online,” he added.
Focus On Green Mining
Atlas is committed to achieving sustainable growth and using only environmentally friendly power in its mining operations.
In the announcement today, the company said it is carrying out “a mass adoption of renewable energy, with a long-term goal to be 100% carbon-free”.
Atlas’s Yuan said:
“Green mining and global operations are two key trends in the ASIC-mining industry. As we expand our business, we are keen to further adopt renewable energy and explore technologies that can improve operational efficiency. Advances in emerging cooling technology will improve the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of the whole industry, and Atlas wants to lead the way.”
Compute North uses a variety of energy sources in its three locations, mostly through what’s available on the local grid. The majority of electricity produced in South Dakota comes from hydroelectric power, while Nebraska and Texas use a mix including wind power, solar, and natural gas.
“Most of our facilities are connected to the power grid… the nature of our power usage (load) on the grid allows us to serve as a strategic partner to grid operators with our ability to curtail our power use in order to help stabilize the grid,” Perrill told Bitcoin Magazine in a recent interview. “With the increase in renewable energy as a percentage of overall power production, these intermittent power sources are creating additional challenges to the overall grid infrastructure. We serve an important role in providing a low-cost compute environment for our customers, while also filling a very important need for grid operators.”
According to the announcement today, Atlas has purchased more than 200,000 units of the most advanced mining rigs to date and aims to continue this trend over the next few years. The firm has contracted more than 400MW infrastructure capacity with local partners in different regions and plans to add 1GW capacity in the following 18 months.
This latest expansion comes only weeks after Atlas selected Core Scientific to host bitcoin miners that will require more than 100 MW of power when fully implemented.