A Firm Wants to Reopen One of Australia’s Dirtiest Coal Plants for Blockchain Mining | Greentech Media
Plans to create an Australian “Blockchain Valley” with cheap fossil energy have been met with a stony reception from blockchain insiders.
Abraham Cambridge, founder and CEO of The Sun Exchange, a blockchain-based marketplace forsolarPV equipment, said a plan by Australian tech firm IOT Group to restart a coal-fired plant for blockchain company energy supplies is not sustainable.
Earlier this month, IOT Group announced a partnership with Hunter Energy, an independent power producer in Hunter Valley, New South Wales. The two companies said they planned to restart Redbank Power Station, a 151-megawatt coal plant, with the aim of feeding some of the energy directly into power-hungry blockchain applications.
Bypassing the utility grid would help cut the price of electricity from an average residential rate of AUD$0.28 (USD $0.21) per kilowatt-hour to just AUD $0.08 (USD $0.06) per kilowatt-hour in daytime and AUD $0.05 (USD $0.04) at night, IOT Group said.
This, in turn, might help Australia attract blockchain companies that have been wary of locating in the country because of its high electricity costs. “Power at wholesale cost would make blockchain-related operations attractive in Australia,” said IOT Group in a press note.