Large-scale Bitcoin mining has proven to be a huge and arduous undertaking all over the world, especially cost-wise given the immense amount of energy required to power a mining plant at higher efficiency rates. Bitriver, Russia’s largest data centre, has instead used Russia’s natural climate to its advantage and now supports an entire facility for clients looking for the right environment to mine the popular cryptocurrency.
Opened a year ago in Siberian city Bratsk, the data centre is housed in an old aluminium smelter built by the Soviet Union nearly fifty years ago. This prime location is also advantageous in energy production as it was built near a hydropower plant, which is still active today.
Bitcoin mining equipment runs fairly hot and in many mining facilities, a large part of resources are also spent on cooling equipment. Thus, Siberia’s climate which features long and freezing winters, and the provision of low-cost power supply make Bratsk the ideal place for a data centre.
Billionare and president of the world’s second-largest aluminium company Rusal, Oleg Deripaska, owns the Bratsk hydropower and former aluminium plants. He and his team conceptualised the idea of the data centre five years prior. En+ Group Plc provides 100 megawatts of power to Bitriver annually and ensures that the data centre has a reliable source of energy. According to Bloomberg’s report, En+ and Bitriver also provides equipment such as computer racks to crypto miners.
Russia does not recognise or approve of crypto mining, but Bitriver is able to operate legally as its role in the data centre is to provide the facility, space and equipment involved without participating in mining activity directly.
