The Bitcoin-friendly renewable energy project made headlines in early 2023, with stablecoin issuer Tether among the project’s investor companies.
El Salvador officially launched Lava Pool, its first local Bitcoin mining farm, which will be managed by Volcano Energy in partnership with Luxor Technology.
The country’s US$1 billion Bitcoin-friendly renewable energy project made headlines in early 2023, with stablecoin issuer Tether among the investor companies. It plans to generate electricity from renewable sources in El Salvador to power future Bitcoin mining operations in the country.
23% of the profits generated by Volcano Energy will correspond to the government of El Salvador, one of the founding parties of the company, the company, and Luxor detailed through a statement. Mining profits will be reinvested in energy transmission and infrastructure to stimulate economic and technological growth in the Central American nation.
Volcano Energy is leveraging Luxor’s expertise in providing Bitcoin mining software and services. The project will also utilize Luxor’s Hashrate Forward Marketplace to mitigate market volatility through automated risk management strategies used by other major Bitcoin mining operators.
Luxor Technology was founded by software engineers who felt the Bitcoin mining industry required new tools and infrastructure. “Since 2017, the Luxor team has created a range of solutions to scale mining infrastructure. Our products include a globally distributed mining cluster, hashprice derivatives, a request-for-quote ASIC marketplace, firmware, and Bitcoin.”, the company mentions on its website.
Bitcoin has the potential to pay off its climate debt much sooner than solar energy, and, thanks to its ability to mitigate methane, it can address more urgent challenges. 🌍💡 #Bitcoin #ClimateAction
— Volcano Energy 🇸🇻🌋🔌 (@Volcano_Energy) October 3, 2023
In the release, Volcano Energy’s chief strategy officer, Gerson Martinez, highlighted El Salvador’s ongoing efforts to secure the advantage of being the first nation-state to adopt Bitcoin: “Our vision is to create a vertically integrated Bitcoin mining and energy company whose value is accretive to investors and to all Salvadoran citizens.”
For his part, Ethan Vera, chief operating officer of Luxor, said that the establishment of Volcano Energy and the start of local Bitcoin mining will contribute to BTC’s philosophy of geographic decentralization.
The announcement also mentions the potential for countries with abundant renewable energy sources to use Bitcoin mining to improve the economics of new energy projects. Mining operations can provide a “flexible buyer of first and last resort” for energy producers and act as an alternative revenue source.
The first phase of the Volcano Energy project involves the construction of a 241-megawatt (MW) renewable energy park in Metapan, which will consist of 169 MW of solar PV and 72 MW of wind power. The long-term goal of the project is to take advantage of the abundant geothermal energy in the country.
It’s here! Lava Pool is now available. 🔥💧 Join the revolution in Bitcoin mining with us https://t.co/t6mEASxjLZ. #LavaPool #BitcoinMining pic.twitter.com/77SVVZ5gc7 — Volcano Energy 🇸🇻🌋🔌 (@Volcano_Energy) October 4, 2023
