2021-7-12 16:46 |
One of the oldest renewable energy facilities in the world, the Mechanicville plant has now started to mine Bitcoin.
Mining Bitcoin has allowed the hydro-power station in the US to earn three times the money they earned by selling energy.
“We think this is the oldest renewable energy facility in the world that’s still running,” said Jim Besha Sr., CEO of Albany Engineering Corp., which owns the Mechanicville hydroelectric station.
“We can actually make more money with bitcoin than selling the electricity to National Grid.”
Built in 1897 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the plant is running at full capacity again after being abandoned by the National Grid, part of which is used to mine the cryptocurrency.
Albany Engineering got involved with the plant in 1986 when National Grid asked them to refurbish and operate the plant, which provides power to two 2-megawatt transformers. It signed a deal with National Grid to sell it the power for 40 years below the market price.
Albany Engineering gets 3 cents per kilowatt-hour when it sells energy to National Grid.
Founded on an antique structure, there hasn’t been a lot of profit in running a plant using original 1800s machinery, which has now been changed by Bitcoin.
“It’s the best (type of bitcoin mining) because we’re using renewable energy,” Besha said. “We’re just doing it on the side, experimenting with it. We're buying used servers.”
The Mechanicville hydroelectric plant has also been nominated for landmark status in three different types of engineering — civil, electrical, and mechanical.
The company, however, isn’t holding the mined Bitcoin rather converting the thousandths of a bitcoin they make each week to cash.
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