⚡️ Talen Energy Doubles Down on Bitcoin Mining

Talen Energy’s recent acquisition of Nautilus Cryptomine, a 200 MW Bitcoin mining facility in Berwick, Pennsylvania, signifies a pivotal shift in leveraging Bitcoin mining to enhance nuclear energy production efficiency. This transaction underscores the viability of Talen's strategy to integrate Bitcoin mining as a means to optimize and sustainably harness its nuclear energy output.

As a NASDAQ-listed independent power producer operating approximately 10.7 GW of power infrastructure across the United States, including 2.2 GW of nuclear energy, Talen Energy is one of the first power producers to integrate Bitcoin mining into its operations.

Cole Muller, Talen Energy's Executive Vice President of Strategic Ventures, has highlighted that this acquisition enables the company to renegotiate its power contracts, thereby maximizing the profitability of its Susquehanna nuclear plant while increasing the value derived from every MW produced.

Moreover, this acquisition presents an innovative economic model for the nuclear industry, which has been facing financial challenges. By diversifying revenue streams through Bitcoin mining, nuclear facilities can enhance their economic viability while providing miners with access to abundant and relatively inexpensive energy. This synergy could improve the public perception of nuclear power, demonstrating its adaptability to new technologies and emerging energy needs.

⛏️ In the News

• MARA secured a $200m line of credit, collateralized by a portion of its bitcoin holdings, to capitalize on strategic opportunities and for general corporate purposes.

• Bit Digital acquired Enovum for $46m, securing a 4MW Tier 3 data center in Montreal and a 280+ MW expansion pipeline, vertically integrating its HPC operations and enhancing colocation and GPU cloud services.

• Russia is constructing a new power plant in Buryatia to support Bitcoin mining, following President Putin's legalization of crypto for international payments and mining, while addressing the region's energy needs.

🟩 Greenidge September Update

• Greenidge produced 54 BTC (17 BTC from proprietary miners and 36 BTC from hosting) in September, a 1.82% decrease from 55 BTC in August.

• The company produced a total of 167 BTC in the third quarter of 2024, with 54 BTC mined by Greenidge-owned miners and 113 BTC produced for datacenter hosting clients.

• They reported Q3 revenue of $12.4m, a net loss from continuing operations of $6.6m, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $0.4m.

• Greenidge generated $3.3m in revenue from cryptocurrency mining, $6.5m from datacenter hosting, and $2.6m from power and capacity sales during the quarter.

• As of September 30, 2024, Greenidge operates a fleet of approximately 29,000 ASICs, with a total hashrate of 3.1 EH/s, 1.8 EH/s dedicated to hosting and 1.3 EH/s for self-mining.

• The company held approximately $11.3m in cash and digital assets at the end of the quarter, including 60 BTC, and had a total debt of $69.5m.

• Greenidge is upgrading its mining fleet, aiming to improve miner fleet efficiency to 26.5 J/TH by the end of 2024 from the previous 28.7 J/TH reported in June, with over 1,000 new miners expected to be received and deployed by year-end.

• Greenidge is involved in litigation concerning the denial of its Title V Air Permit renewal for its Dresden, NY facility, with a hearing expected in late October 2024 regarding a temporary restraining order to continue operations during the challenge process.

🚨 IREN Business Update

• AI Cloud Services expected to generate $32m in annualized hardware profit by December 2024, contributing 10% to IREN's overall earnings

• 816 NVIDIA H100 GPUs nearing full utilization; contracts expected to cover remaining capacity

• Commissioning of 1,080 NVIDIA H200 GPUs planned for Q4 2024, doubling AI capacity

• AI Cloud Services using less than 0.5% of total data center capacity, providing room to scale

• Design and procurement underway for next-gen GPUs, including NVIDIA Blackwell GB200, with liquid-cooling in existing data centers

• Target energization for 1.4GW substation at West Texas data center moved to April 2026 (from October 2026)

• EPC contractor engaged for high/medium-voltage substation infrastructure; procurement for 345kV/138kV transformers and ancillary equipment in progress

• IREN secured 800 additional acres, totaling over 1,300 acres

• Planning for Bitcoin mining and HPC/AI monetization pathways, with interest from hyperscalers