BITCOIN MINING FARMS TAKING OVER QUEBEC – Quebec Pushes Hydropower Utility to Halt Crypto Miners

Bitcoin mining is a weird industry. Vast banks of dedicated computers solve complex equations to generate hashes worth a fraction of a coin, consuming huge amounts of power in the process. For such operations to be economically feasible nowadays, miners need the cheapest electricity possible.

Energy is cheap in certain regions of Asia but many nations there are becoming increasingly hostile to cryptocurrency. China, for instance, is concerned that a sudden Bitcoin collapse could cause economic chaos. More importantly, it wants to cut off cryptocurrency operations near coal-fired energy plants that cause extra pollution in an already-polluted country. bitfarms

The answer, for many bitcoin miners, is to be found in Quebec. The Canadian province has some of the lowest electricity prices in North America, and produces an energy surplus that amounts to 100 terawatt hours over a decade — enough to supply 6 million homes in a year, according to Global News. As such, rather than turning away miners like China is, the province’s power agency, Hydro Quebec, has been encouraging them to come. Quebec generates nearly 97 percent of its electricity from hydro projects and produces around 1,245 tonnes of carbon per TWh of power, between 50 and 240 times less than the industry average in North America. Cryptocurrency mining is thus relatively clean and cheap in Quebec, making it interesting for both the province and miners. “Of the world’s top five largest blockchain players, we have at least three or four,” David Vincent of Hydro Quebec told Reuters.

The Canadian province of Quebec has temporarily put a halt to the development of Bitcoin Crypto Cryptocurrency Blockchain “Blockchain technology” machine transaction “no fees” “transaction fee” gpu “graphics card” “crypto farm” electric electricity heat cool cooling “cold weather” Quebec power “cheap power” 2018 tech technology project “crypto trading” banking bank economy build canada “quebec canada” gold “gold rush” “send money” “transfer money” trading trade dash litecoin new cryptocurrency mining operations. The region – known for its cheap hydropower – has been an attractive destination for cryptocurrency miners looking to expand their businesses. Yet on Friday, Canadian newspaper Les Affaires reported that operators tied to utility firm Hydro-Quebec are turning down new clients, in part due to the demands placed on the hydroelectric dam by existing operations.

Quebec’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Pierre Moreau, said cryptocurrency mines require a lot of energy, but only generate a small number of jobs when compared to other factories, such as those which refine aluminum.

Further, he added, there is a possibility that the region would be unable to meet the energy demands crypto miners create, saying: The plant had received applications for “projects representing many thousands of megawatts” in the last few months, according to the news service.

Officials are now working on new guidelines for cryptocurrency mining facilities. Once these guidelines are complete, authorities will begin considering applications again. Its smallest commercial customers, such as the Montreal Canadiens’ hockey arena, require five megawatts of electricity and a typical data center requires 30 to 60 megawatts. By contrast, “the top-three to top-five miners in world, most of them are talking to us, and the demand that they have right now is around 200 to 300 megawatts,” he said. “It’s huge.”

BITCOIN MINING FARMS TAKING OVER QUEBEC – Quebec Pushes Hydropower Utility to Halt Crypto Miners

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