Costa Rica will use hydroelectricity for bitcoin mining

A hydroelectric power plant in Costa Rica has been repurposed to power several cryptocurrency mining operations. The facility takes advantage of the Poas River about 35 kilometers from the capital, San Jose, with eight containers that power over 650 machines. After 30 years of operation, the plant has recently hinged on powering mining operations, after the government stopped buying electricity due to a surplus of electricity during the pandemic.

The plant it is one of three that the hydroelectric company owns, which are worth $ 13.5 million and have a capacity of three megawatts. The family business, which also owns the 60-acre Data Center CR farm, has invested $ 500,000 to house digital mining computers. "We had to go out of business for nine months, and exactly one year ago I heard about bitcoin, blockchain and digital mining," said President Eduardo Kooper. “At first I was very skeptical, but we have seen that this business consumes a lot of energy and we have a surplus of it.”

Ph. Marco Verch

Kooper implied that Costa Rica would be an ideal place for international cryptocurrency mining, being abundant in both low cost clean energy and internet connectivity. To that end, he believes the government should do more to incentivize cryptocurrency miners to target the Central American nation.

if (jQuery ("# ​​crm_srl-th_altra_d_mh2_1"). is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_altra_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_altra_d_mh2"); } Perhaps Costa Rica is taking its cue from neighboring El Salvador, which became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last September. While Costa Rica still doesn't have such drastic plans, the central bank has prioritized providing space for tech innovation, hoping to enable the development of a national Fintech industry.

As the government takes its time to reflect on how a broader strategy can attract additional participants, Data Center CR will continue to serve local customers. For example, a 31-year-old cybersecurity engineer was able to nearly halve the cost of his operations by plugging his computer into the network at the river-powered facility after he started earning extra money from home in 2021. br>