After almost being dismantled, an old hydroelectric plant that was constructed back in 1897 in Mechanicville, Saratoga County, New York is now mining bitcoins.
The facility, considered as one of the oldest renewable energy plants in the world, is now making more money with bitcoin than selling electricity to the grid, local reports say.
The plant is now under the ownership and operation of Albany Engineering Corp. (AEC) which signed a deal with the National Grid in order to continue access to cheap renewable energy.
More money with mining
AEC’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Besha, in a recent interview, told reporters that his company is making three times more money than it would be selling electricity to the multinational electricity and gas utility company, National Grid.
“We can actually make more money with bitcoin than selling the electricity to the National Grid,” said Besha during the interview, citing that the company only makes $0.03 per kilowatt-hour selling its electricity.
The chief executive also talked about the facility’s mining operation, saying, “It’s the best type of bitcoin mining because we’re using renewable energy. We’re just doing it on the side, experimenting with it. We’re buying used servers.”
Converting bitcoin to cash
Despite having crypto mining capabilities now through the hydroelectric power plant, Besha said he is a little skeptical about the said cryptocurrency. That is the reason why the company immediately converts the crypto it is able to mine into cash.
The CEO also said that he would have liked to sell renewable energy to the National Grid, but the company chose to stick with an old agreement, prompting them to think of a way to utilize and maximize the energy they produce.
The answer they found was bitcoin mining.
Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube