Australia’s largest bitcoin mining farm will soon be set up in Byron Bay. Even more surprising, it will be powered entirely by renewable energy.
Australia moving to green Bitcoin mining
Shortly after Macquarie Bank invested in green bitcoin mining, there is more good news for Australian Bitcoin bulls. Mawson Infrastructure Group and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners struck a deal that will see Australia’s biggest bitcoin mining farm in Byron Bay run solely on renewable energy. Mawson’s Chief Commercial Officer Nick Hughes-Jones expects Bitcoin to become a pioneer in Australia’s decarbonisation efforts, a remarkable turn of events after the cryptocurrency was so long demonised for its carbon footprint. He said that renewable energy would eventually be the cheapest energy and that Bitcoin would lead the transition by using it.
The 20-megawatt project will add 0.4 exahash to cypto’s global computing power, with Quinbrook powering all of it. This “co-locating” partnership is expected to spark similar deals in the future. Hughes-Jones sees great potential in Bitcoin and renewable energy sources teaming up, as the cryptocurrency is well-positioned to take advantage of renewables’ downsides. “We’ve got lots of renewables in Australia. I think a lot of them, if you look at some of the solar assets out there, are not operating 100% of the time,” says Hughes-Jones. Hughes-Jones argues that by using them to mine bitcoin, these under-utilised assets would become economical. He also expects bitcoin mining to increase the competition for coal and gas, with the recommendations from the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology playing a big part.
Bitcoin no longer an outcast in Australia?
Even though Australia has long dragged its feet on crypto regulation, it seems as if the tables are finally turning – and just in time. Hughes-Jones was very pleased with the Senate Select Committee passing down recommendations that call on the federal government to overhaul finance and tax regulations completely and set Australia up to be a major player in crypto. That committee, spearheaded by Liberal Senator and crypto advocate Andrew Bragg, also recommended a tax credit of 10% for crypto miners whose operations are powered by renewable energy. Although the Mawson-Quinbrook deal was most probably not struck because of this, after all, the committee passed these recommendations only last week, Hughes-Jones lauded the senator’s efforts to put Australia on the crypto map:
“At a minimum, [it could stop] them [from going] offshore, right? Historically, that was sort of the direction that we and others were getting nudged because Australian regulation is so prohibitive. But I think the Bragg report goes a long way to bring it home, which is why — even though we have bigger sites on offer in the US — it made sense to have a site here in Australia.”
Lo and behold, with tax breaks possibly on the way, this will likely not stay the last deal that sets up “green bitcoin mining” in Australia. Mawson chief executive James Manning even hopes it could kickstart advancements in decarbonisation of societies around the world, words that must be music to the ears of Australian bitcoin holders.
