Williston: Site Of World's Largest Data Center? Very Likely -- January 26, 2022

Updates

February 15, 2022: COP providing natural gas for ND bit-miner. Link here.

January 28, 2022: is crypto mining driving up power costs for US consumers? Link to Tsvetana Paraskova. We may need to re-visit this story in 2025.

Original Post 

Link here.

• Atlas Power Data Center to partner with FX Solutions Inc
• $1.9 billion -- billion -- cryptocurrency factory
• construction has already begun west of Williston
• will be one of the world's largest data centers
• ND has two things these folks need:
• redundant power supply; and,
• speed to market
• first phase
• eight buildings
• each building: 15 megawatts
• 120 megawatts total
• second phase:
• 20-megawatt buildings
• 6 buildings
• total with first and second phases: 240 megawatts
• milestones
  
• goal: 240 MW by 4Q22
• then: 500 MW by 2Q23
• finally: 700 MW 4Q23
• after 700 MW, company may come back to Mountrail Williams and Basin Electric to ask for more energy, depending on demand for their services
• second such facility for Atlas Power
  
• first was in Butte, MT
• goal: to create the world's largest cryptocurrency company with a carbon-neutral footprint
• for perspective: the new airport -- $300 million
• the $2.8 billion Cerilon plant in Trenton, just a few miles southwest of Williston
• the gas-to-liquid plant, see this post;

Background:

• cryptocurrency data centers are usually in the range of one to five MW facilities; link here;
• RWB: consulting engineers designing cryptocurrency facilities  from 1MW to 700 MW in size; link here;
• two of the biggest bitcoin mining companies in Rockdale, TX; link here.
• Bitdeer
  
• Riot Blockchain: Whinstone mine --
• biggest in North America
• goal: 750 MW
• to put that in perspective, downtown Dallas uses just 200 MW
• Riot Whinstone: electricity demand similar to downtown Dallas + Manhattan