The Bitfarms company, which mines Bitcoins, has reached an agreement with the City of Baie-Comeau to acquire 22 megawatts of electricity, the equivalent of the annual consumption of 8,000 residences.
The international cryptocurrency company will build a huge data center in Baie-Comeau by taking advantage of our green electricity, which is becoming increasingly scarce.
Bitfarms and its vice president of operations, Benoît Gobeil, have been eyeing this space since 2018. The available hydroelectric power and cool climate make this region an ideal location for a cryptocurrency factory.
“We will use 6,000 state-of-the-art computers, with the best processors, which will work 24 hours a day in an area of some 32,000 square feet,” he said.
The plant is expected to employ at least 75 workers during construction and 25 permanent workers when operational.
Unused energy
The energy block was first awarded by Hydro Manicouagan in 2018, under an agreement with AREQ (Association of Quebec Electricity Redistributors). This is an agreement where municipalities use, according to their needs, a block of energy produced and allocated by Hydro-Québec.
This “block” was originally allocated to a company called Orion Technologies, but the company was never commissioned. Bitfarms has therefore been coveting this electricity since 2018, which will finally allow it to set its projects in motion.
“It’s good news, in these tough times to obtain megawatts,” says Benoit Gobeil. He repeats it to anyone who will listen, his company “does not play hide and seek”.
“We are one business legal, which works with the environment. We want to show the positive points that we can bring to an electrical network. »
Indeed, no one will be able to accuse their factory of not being “green”. “It’s wind passing through a machine and then coming out a little bit warmer. No CO2 is emitted, says Benoît Gobeil. And in addition, when we are near other factories, we can heat them, we are working on lots of technologies like that. »
Hydro has its hands tied
Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon recently made it known that cryptocurrency factories should not expect to be favored by Hydro-Québec. However, in this case, the project was approved by the City of Baie-Comeau in 2018, i.e. before Bill 2. Hydro-Québec therefore had the obligation to serve the plant, confirms Mathieu St-Amant , director of communications in Minister Fitzgibbon’s office.
◆ During the winter of 2022-2023, the cryptocurrency industry consumed 250 MW in Quebec, including approximately 140 MW via municipal networks, according to data compiled by Hydro-Québec.