A Texas-based energy technology firm has raised $150 million to develop Bitcoin mining campuses powered by renewable energy sources.
Lancium’s growth strategy includes 2,000 megawatts of capacity in development across its Clean Campuses, which are placed in areas overwhelmed by renewable energy.
The company’s software allows the campuses to operate as Controllable Load Resources to the electrical grid, replacing reliability products often provided by fossil fuel plants.
“This financing allows us to embark on the next high-growth phase of our business, and we are encouraged by the support of a broad range of investors from the energy and cryptocurrency sectors,” said Michael McNamara, co-founder and CEO of Lancium.
Hanwha Solutions, owner and operator of solar manufacturer Q CELLS, led the financing round.
A recent study conducted by energy research firm IdeaSmiths, sponsored by Lancium, analyzed the impact of large, flexible data center operations on the Texas power grid.
The study found that adding data center load to the grid incentivizes additional deployment of wind and solar energy. The buildout of flexible load data centers, meanwhile, results in fewer natural gas additions, according to modeling data.
“Operating the data centers in a flexible manner can result in a net-reduction of carbon emissions from the base case,” the authors wrote. “Beyond the possible carbon emissions reductions, this analysis also found that the additional flexibility of the data centers can increase the resiliency of the grid by reducing demand during high-stress times (low reserves) on the grid.”
In September, Lancium broke ground on its first Clean Campus — a 325 MW bitcoin mining data center in Fort Stockton, Texas with an expected full-scale operation target of Q4 2022.
