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Bitfarms acquires 24-MW hydro power plant in Washington State

Bitfarms acquires 24-MW hydro power plant in Washington State

Bitfarms Ltd., a Bitcoin self-mining company, has acquired a 24-MW hydro power plant in Washington State, U.S., and entered into a memorandum of understanding with the seller to co-develop additional farms in the area, increasing total mining capacity in Washington to 99 MW.

Neither the name of the hydro plant nor the company from which it was acquired were disclosed.

Bitfarms entered into a hosting agreement for 12 MW with the seller in July 2021, and 4,000 Bitmain S19j Pro miners have been installed under the agreement. This transaction replaces and results in the termination of Bitfarms’ only hosting agreement. Bitfarms plans to house about 6,200 Bitmain S19j Pro miners in the facility.

“Bitfarms strategy is to expand our operating footprint while maintaining cost effective production rates. By diversifying our decentralized mining portfolio, we prioritize locations with cost-effective electricity that allow for further growth and expansion,” said Emiliano Grodzki, chief executive officer of Bitfarms. “The Washington farm meets all these criteria. With this acquisition, we enter the United States and continue our global expansion to 10 farms in operation or under development in four countries. The initial 24 MW acquisition will increase our total mining capacity to 106 MW and boost our total hashrate as additional miners are installed.”

Bitfarms purchased the 24 MW of infrastructure in Washington, with a dedicated cryptocurrency mining operation powered by low-cost green hydro power, for total consideration of US$26 million: US$23 million in cash and US$3 million in common shares based on a price of US$7.17, for a total of 414,508 shares.

“The facility’s hydro power is expected to cost approximately 25% less than the average cost of power at our Québec farms, making it the most cost-effective source of power currently in our portfolio and reducing our corporate wide average to below 4 US cents/kwh,” said Ben Gagnon, chief mining officer of Bitfarms. “This low-cost power combined with the industry leading efficiency of the Bitmain S19j Pro means 6,200 miners in Washington could yield nearly 3.7 bitcoin per day at a cost of approximately US$4,000 per bitcoin when all miners are installed, based upon prevailing mining difficulty levels and costs. We are very excited to continue to complete strategic transactions that deliver significant value to our shareholders.”

Founded in 2017, Bitfarms runs vertically integrated mining operations with onsite technical repair, proprietary data analytics and company-owned electrical engineering and installation services.

Bitfarms became the first Bitcoin mining company to complete its long form prospectus with the Ontario Securities Commission and started trading on the TSX-V in July 2019. On June 21, 2021, Bitfarms started trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Bitfarms has five industrial-scale facilities in Québec. Each Canadian facility is over 99% powered with environmentally friendly hydropower and secured with long-term power contracts.