Greenidge Generation Yates County facility
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The Greenidge Generation Yates County facility is a bitcoin mining operation located at a gas fired power plant in Dresden, New York, on the western shore of Seneca Lake.
Location
The map below shows the location of the Greenidge Generation Bitcoin mine in Dresden, New York, USA.
Background
Originally built in 1937 to burn coal, the Greenidge power plant produced coal fired electricity until its closure in 2011, at which time the owners, AES Greenidge, declared bankruptcy.[1] The plant was inactive from 2011 until 2017, when it was purchased by Atlas Holdings (as Greenidge Generation LLC), and converted to burn natural gas. Two years later, after poor profitability as a gas burning facility, the plant's new owners began mining bitcoin with some of the power generated at the site. By March of 2020, the site was using 14, MW; by October of 2021, it was up to 44 MW; by the end of 2022, Greenidge hopes to be utilizing 85 of the plant's total capacity of 106 MW for bitcoin mining.[1] Greenidge has also announced plans to scale Bitcoin mining to 500 MW by 2025 by "replicat[ing] its vertically integrated mining model" with new generation sources.[2]
The mining operation is highly controversial in the region and is opposed by local civic groups, who challenged or supported the challenge of the state's renewal of the Title V air permit required under the Clean Air Act. On June 30th, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issued a denial of the permit renewal, placing Greenidge's future as a Bitcoin mine in jeopardy.[3] In its decision letter to Greenidge, DEC stated that "the renewal of the Title V permit for the Facility would be inconsistent with or would interfere with the attainment of the Statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emission limits established in Article 75 of the Environmental Conservation Law". Another factor the DEC cited in its denial of the permit was “the change in the primary purpose” of the plant’s operations related to its certificate of public convenience and necessity from the state Public Service Commission. No longer primarily used for the generation of power for the benefit of the public, a constantly increasing percentage of generated power has been used for the private acquisition of digital assets.
Greenidge has pledged to challenge DEC's air permit denial, and plans to continue operating until the adjudication process is resolved.[1]
Project Details
- Power usage (MW): 55
- Owner: Greenidge Generation LLC
- Parent: Atlas Holdings
- Location: 590 Plant Road, Dresden, NY 14441
- Coordinates: 42.67687, -76.94491
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "How bitcoin makes burning fossil fuels more profitable than ever". Bulletin of the Atomic Sciences. 7/11/2022. Retrieved 7/20/2022.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help) - ↑ "500 MW of Mining Capacity by the Year 2025". Bitcoin.com. 3/22/2021. Retrieved 7/20/2022.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help) - ↑ "Greenidge's Bitcoin Operation on Seneca Lake Loses its Bid for New Air Emissions Permit, Jeopardizing its Future Operation". Waterfront Blog. 6/30/2022. Retrieved 7/20/2022.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|access-date=and|date=(help)
