Marathon Digital, a Bitcoin miner, has expanded its footprint by building a 27-megawatt Bitcoin mining operation fuelled by renewable hydroelectricity near Paraguay’s Itaipu Dam.
Marathon Digital, in collaboration with Penguin Infrastructure Holding, inaugurated the project, which aims to transform energy into human potential in Paraguay, according to a press statement. The first miners for the project have arrived and are being prepared for installation and activation.
Commenting on the new feat, Marathon’s chairman and CEO, Fred Thiel, said: “After proving that we can successfully deploy internationally with our project in Abu Dhabi, we are continuing to expand into new markets with excess or stranded energy. This project is our second international deployment and marks our first into Latin America.”
Marathon Digital Announces Second Global Deployment
Marathon and Penguin will carry out the project in two stages, each of which will bring 1.1 EH/s of Marathon’s miners online. The first is scheduled to be completed in November, with seven megawatts powering around 0.3 EH/s of Marathon’s miners. Marathon’s miners will be powered by 20 megawatts in the second phase, which will be completed in 2024.
“Bitcoin miners, like Marathon, have the unique ability to co-locate at sources of power that are producing excess energy, like the Itaipu Dam in Paraguay. We believe this project may serve as an excellent case study for the value Bitcoin mining can bring to regions with excess power. We look forward to expanding our operations in Paraguay and elsewhere,” Thiel added.
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Paraguay to Monetize Excess Energy
With a capacity of 14 gigatonnes, Itaipu Dam is the world’s second-largest hydroelectric dam in terms of annual production. Marathon thinks that because Paraguay produces around 32 terawatt hours of surplus energy each year, the utility and the country’s output suffer. The project’s goal is to assist Paraguay in monetizing its excess energy without the need for costly transmission lines or additional infrastructure.
Marathon’s second foreign deployment follows the company’s recent introduction of a 280-kilowatt Bitcoin mining pilot plant in Utah fueled by landfill methane gas. The pilot was established through a collaboration with Nodal Power, a developer of renewable energy assets, and is already powered and functioning.
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