Californian nuclear power plant bets on Bitcoin mining

Californian nuclear energy provider Oklo announced its 20-year partnership with the Bitcoin mining firm Compass.

According to a release, the first phase of the partnership will start in the early 2020s providing Compass 150MW of nuclear-generated energy for crypto mining.

“Cryptocurrency mining offers promising pathways to accelerate the deployment of clean energy technologies, and Oklo is positioned to respond to commercial demands by offering end-users the convenience of buying clean, reliable, and cost-effective power that they can depend on,” Jacob DeWitte, Oklo’s co-founder and CEO, said in a release.

In addition to this new Oklo-Compass clean mining project, nuclear energy will also power Bitcoin mining in Pennsylvania, where US power company Talen Energy plans on building a 300MW crypto mining facility beside its nuclear Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.

Before, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have received multiply criticism over their environmental impact and excessive energy consumption. Oklo-Compass clean Bitcoin initiative now joins a series of other projects to reduce Bitcoin’s carbon footprint. For instance, the Albany Engineering Corp in New York said they could make more money mining cryptocurrency at its 200-year-old hydroelectric power plant than providing power to its energy grid.

Source: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/111584/nuclear-power-partnership-bitcoin-mining-firm-compass