MARA, a cryptominer, taps the power generated by U.S. Shale Patch in a new pilot program
MARA Holdings Inc. has announced that it is now producing electricity in the U.S. Shale Patch as part of a program pilot to power 25 megawatts for its mining operations using excess natural gas. The company said that the move was made in response to the intensifying competition between Big Tech AI data centers for electricity, which has caused the crypto industry to change its business strategy and either market AI or find a way around the power battle.
Fred Thiel, Chief Executive Officer of MARA, said: "The AI guys will pay any price to meet their energy demand. This makes it difficult for bitcoin miners in order to compete."
Thiel explained that by bringing cryptomining into the raw power supply, MARA can avoid some of the competition and avoid the increasingly expensive prices for power from regional grids. MARA is the first miner to own its own power generation.
In recent years, the carbon footprint of mining energy-intensive cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin has been scrutinized by the public. This led to the establishment of restrictions in New York on these businesses and a federal proposal that would tax their power usage.
Thiel stated, "We don't want to add more load on the grid." The majority of cryptomining in the United States, which federal agencies estimate accounts for up to 2.3% of all electricity consumed in the U.S., purchases power from grids to run their mining equipment.
Thiel explained that generating power for cryptomining would provide financial benefits to energy producers who lack the pipelines and transmission lines necessary to sell their products into established markets.
MARA has established mining operations within wind farms in order to capture excess power at a low cost.
MARA, as part of a pilot program that began last month, but was not reported previously, purchases natural gas from independent oil producers located in Texas and North Dakota. The feedstock is converted into electricity to power its miniature data centers. It would otherwise have been burned in a flaring process.
Natural gas is often flared by shale producers in North Dakota, Texas and elsewhere as a result of crude oil drilling.
MARA, which captures methane gas, a powerful global-warming gas, that would have been burned or vented in the atmosphere, will be able also to generate carbon credit, according to Brad Tomm, director of ESG at the company.
MARA systems are mobile. Small power generators can be attached to the backs of pickup trucks, and data centers can be placed in containers that can then be transported by semi-trailers.
Many smaller cryptominers also run mobile operations from shale-basins. But this is believed to be the first publicly traded miner that has done so.
The sites are initially intended for mining. However, they can be replicated to support high-performance computing (HPC), which is needed for technologies like generative AI. Thiel stated that the ability of the tech industry to monetize artificial intelligence generated by HPC will determine whether or not this shift occurs.
(source: Reuters)
