Tesla, Blockstream, and Block’s Solar-Powered Bitcoin Mining

Blockstream announced today that it will collaborate with Block (previously known as Square) and Tesla to build a new solar-powered Bitcoin mining plant.

The facility will be completed later this year, according to a CNBC story published on Friday.

Blockstream will provide the mining tools and engineers that will construct the facility. The firm will also provide reports on the project’s performance.

The facility will be powered by Tesla 3.8 megawatt solar PV array and 12 megawatt-hour Megapack, according to the report.

The plant, according to Blockstream co-founder and CEO Adam Back, is being created to demonstrate that Bitcoin can be mined with 100 percent renewable energy and to support zero-emission power.

“People like to debate about the different factors to do with bitcoin mining. We figured, let’s just prove it. Have an open dashboard so people can play along, maybe it can inform other players to participate. This is a step to proving our thesis that bitcoin mining can fund zero-emission power infrastructure and build economic growth for the future.” 

The facility will speed Bitcoin’s adoption of renewables, according to Neil Jorgensen, project head for Block’s Bitcoin Clean Energy Initiative.

Block and Blockstream first announced their partnership in June, with Block spending $5 million and Blockstream providing infrastructure and experience to help construct it.

In January 2022, Block’s general manager for hardware, Thomas Templeton, disclosed that the business is constructing a Bitcoin mining system to alleviate pre-existing Bitcoin mining computational challenges as part of its continued strong support for Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, governments and authorities all around the world have overwhelmingly condemned Bitcoin mining activities because of their supposed harmful environmental impact.

Members of the New York State Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee voted last month to move forward with legislation that would ban Bitcoin proof-of-work (PoW) mining operations for two years in the state.

The bill has not yet been signed into law since it needs to be approved by state lawmakers and signed by Governor Kathy Hochul.

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