In an expansion of its operations in America, Genesis Digital Assets (GDA) has opened three new data centres in Western region of South Carolina. With its reach spanning across Europe, Asia, and North America, GDA is regarded as one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the world.
The first data centre is located near Anderson. It has been operational since February 2023, holding a total capacity of 18 MW. The other two facilities are located between the towns of Union and Lockhart and have been running since March 2023 with a total capacity of 15 MW.
The company worked together with local suppliers and contractors, which underpins its efforts to fully integrate its operations in regional communities. In doing the same, the data centre in Anderson was built using North American-built infrastructure equipment and reutilising an abandoned textile warehouse.
GDA’s official announcement also claimed creating almost 150 jobs, out of which 125 were local contractors that helped set up the facilities. About 95% of the people contracted to build the sites in Union and Lockhart facilities were hired locally in South Carolina.
Head of North America, Ankit Joshi, commented on the inauguration of these centres saying: “I am extremely proud of the entire GDA team for opening these new facilities in only a few months. We were impressed to see how these local communities welcomed us so warmly as an opportunity for their economy.”
Another major reason behind the location of the sites has been the abundant clean energy sources in South Carolina. Its Pacolet data centre is situated only 3 miles from two hydroelectric generation plants by Lockhart Power. This is one of the region’s biggest renewable and clean energy suppliers.
Moreover, the data centre in Anderson is also utilising Hitachi’s environment-friendly dry-type distribution transformers. GDA believes this to be a critical resource for Duke Energy to strengthen the local energy grid by returning excess power when needed.
Company CEO, Andrey Kim, also talked about how the launch of the three centres were perfectly in line with its commitment to expand their fleet on clean energy resources. In doing so, their goal is to be industry leaders in showing the world that Bitcoin mining can be very ESG-friendly.
Operational since 2013, the GDA team boasts about building over 20 industrial-scale mining farms. The company has brought over 300,000 miners online with a total power capacity of over 400 MW.
GDA tries to place its data centres near sources of clean energy in order to ensure that its operations run on the most environmentally friendly energy possible.
Bitcoin mining has often been targeted for its Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism which is known for its associated environmental issues. This consensus algorithm used to verify transactions requires large amounts of electricity which is often produced by burning fossil fuels, emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
A 2022 report titled “Revisiting Bitcoin’s Carbon Footprint” illustrated the environmental effects of this mining in its research. In the same, climate and economics researchers across Europe estimated that “Bitcoin mining may be responsible for 65.4 megatonnes of CO2 per year … which is comparable to country-level emissions in Greece (56.6 megatonnes in 2019).”
