8,000 rigs spool up in Nautilus mining facility

United States-based Bitcoin mining company TeraWulf has fired up a new crypto mining facility in Pennsylvania — solely running on nuclear power generated on-site. 

In March 6 statement, TeraWulf said the Nautilus Cryptomine facility is its first “behind the meter” Bitcoin (BTC) mining facility, meaning it uses energy directly at the generation site without traveling through the grid.

It’s official…The first nuclear-powered mining facility in the U.S. is hashing!!! $WULF https://t.co/tLndh2bKOz@BitcoinMagazine @BTCTN @keremkaradagcom @crypto @decryptmedia @benzingacrypto @BTC_Archive

— TeraWulf (@TeraWulfInc) March 6, 2023

The Nautilus Cryptomine directly sources carbon-free baseload power from the 2.5 gigawatt (GW) Susquehanna nuclear generation station on site.

Paul Prager, chairman and CEO of TeraWulf, claims the Nautilus mining facility now has “arguably the lowest cost power in the sector, just $0.02/kWh for a term of five years.”

The company also revealed they have now brought online nearly 8,000 mining rigs representing computing power, or hash rate, of 1.0 exahashes per second (EH/s), with plans for another 8,000 miners by May, increasing the hash rate to 1.9 EH/s.

TeraWulf has a 50 megawatt (MW) share in phase one of the new facility, a joint venture with Cumulus Coin, but can add an additional 50 MW of BTC mining capacity in future phases.

According to TeraWulf’s website, the Nautilus Cryptomine is expected to reach 300 MW when complete and will be among the largest mines in North America.

First announced back in August 2021, the Nautilus Cryptomine facility is the result of a partnership between TeraWulf’s nuclear mining facility subsidiary and power generation and infrastructure company Talen Energy Corporation. 

Phase 1 of the joint venture included the 180-MW “Nautilus Cryptomine” built on Talen’s digital infrastructure campus adjacent to its nuclear power generation station.

TeraWulf generates domestically produced BTC powered by nuclear, hydro, and solar energy with a goal of utilizing 100% zero-carbon energy.

Related: US legislators renew call for EPA investigation of crypto mining emissions data

Concerns around the potential environmental impacts of BTC mining have ramped up in the last few years with heated debates around the environmental and energy impact surrounding the mining of crypto assets. 

Last year, New York signed a two-year moratorium banning any new fossil-fuel-powered Bitcoin miners from setting up shop within the state.

Last October, Europe made moves toward regulatory action on crypto’s alleged environmental impact as well.