The Bitcoin mining firm TeraWulf has started operating a new 100% nuclear-powered behind-the-meter mining operation in Pennsylvania. A new cryptocurrency mining facility in Pennsylvania has been activated by the US Bitcoin mining startup TeraWulf, which is completely powered by on-site nuclear energy. In a statement on March 6, TeraWulf said that the Nautilus Cryptomine facility is the company’s first “behind the meter” bitcoin mining operation. This refers to the use of energy directly at the source rather than passing via the grid.

Directly Sourced Carbon-free Baseload Electricity is Used at the Nautilus Cryptomine

The 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear production plant on-site provides baseload electricity to the Nautilus Cryptomine without adding any carbon to the atmosphere. The Nautilus mining operation now reportedly offers the lowest cost electricity in the industry, at just $0.02/kWh for five years, according to TeraWulf Chairman and CEO Paul Prager. The firm also disclosed intentions to add a further 8,000 miners by May, bringing the total number of mining rigs up to over 18,000, or 1.0 exahashes per second (EH/s), of processing power.

In the first phase of the new facility, a partnership between TeraWulf and Cumulus Coin, TeraWulf seems to have a 50-megawatt (MW) stake. Moreover, future phases will let TeraWulf add an extra 50 MW of Bitcoin mining power. The Nautilus Cryptomine, one of the biggest mines in North America when finished, is estimated to have a capacity of 300 MW, according to TeraWulf’s website. The Nautilus Cryptomine facility, which was first revealed back in August 2021, is the product of a collaboration between Talen Energy Corporation, a power generating and infrastructure corporation, and TeraWulf’s nuclear extraction facility company.

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The 180-MW Nautilus Cryptomine, which was constructed on Talen’s campus for digital infrastructure next to its nuclear power plant, was a part of the joint venture’s first phase. Intending to use only zero-carbon energy, TeraWulf produces domestic BTC using hydro, nuclear, and solar energy.

Questions Over BTC mining’s Possible Environmental Effects have Increased in Recent Years

With ferocious discussions about the environmental and energy impact of the mining of crypto assets, worries about the possible environmental effects of Bitcoin mining have increased over the previous several years. A two-year prohibition on the establishment of new fossil fuel-powered Bitcoin miners in New York was passed last year. And in October 2022, Europe also started moving towards governmental action on the projected environmental effect of cryptocurrency.