Bitcoin mining facility- maximum poco kw draw

[designer82]

I was asked an interesting question today regarding Bitcoin mining and power consumption from the poco and what their limits are...

The estimated consumption is 10,000 kW lol

Can you just request a 10,000 kW service from your local poco or do you need to build your own power plant for that?

that’s my first question

 

[petersonra]

I was asked an interesting question today regarding Bitcoin mining and power consumption from the poco and what their limits are...

The estimated consumption is 10,000 kW lol

Can you just request a 10,000 kW service from your local poco or do you need to build your own power plant for that?

that’s my first question

You can request anything and depending on what is in the tariffs in your state you might get it.

 

[bwat]

10MW is large for just “any regular old service request”, but it’s relatively small if we’re talking about a load for an industrial or even large institutional service connection, to give you a frame of reference.

Depending on how rural or loaded the site is, the Poco might be able to support without much of an upgrade to their system to support it. Definitely not so large that it would be silly to ask them.

 

[Fred B]

We have one of these mining locations nearby that made the news, that actually bought an old coal fired generator plant and converted it to natural gas. They are now generating an equivalent of power that could power a small city just for use of their equipment per their statement. The big issue being locally discussed is the water being used to cool all the equipment being drawn from the local lake, cooling for not just the generators but also towers of computer equipment. Lake has been reaching temperature equivalent to a hot tub in spots, killing the aquatic ecosystem, while also creating an environment encouraging large blue-green algae blooms. The bitcoin mining company then has the nerve to complain about this same issue because they had to shut operations down multiple times because they couldn't keep the equipment cool enough.

 

[designer82]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback.

Lastly, so if the poco is ok with the service and power consumption, do they cover the fee of any needed distribution upgrades?

 

[Coppersmith]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback.

Lastly, so if the poco is ok with the service and power consumption, do they cover the fee of any needed distribution upgrades?

I recently asked a POCO to extend a three phase system one block over inside an industrial site to a client who had only single phase service. They were going to charge for this and would discount the amount based on the amount of power that would be consumed. They wanted details on the equipment to be connected. I never got them to say what the amount might be, but I'm assuming it would be in the 10's of thousands.

 

[electrofelon]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback.

Lastly, so if the poco is ok with the service and power consumption, do they cover the fee of any needed distribution upgrades?

Again it's going to depend on the tariff for your state/power company. I am pretty sure the fee schedule for construction charges is all spelled out there. I have never attempted to locate or read these documents, I am sure it is very complex. On some occasions, I have had power companies say things like "we will provide you this at no cost" and I am guessing in those cases it is because they are required to because that's what the tariff says, not because they are being nice, but I don't know for sure.

 

[petersonra]

We have one of these mining locations nearby that made the news, that actually bought an old coal fired generator plant and converted it to natural gas. They are now generating an equivalent of power that could power a small city just for use of their equipment per their statement. The big issue being locally discussed is the water being used to cool all the equipment being drawn from the local lake, cooling for not just the generators but also towers of computer equipment. Lake has been reaching temperature equivalent to a hot tub in spots, killing the aquatic ecosystem, while also creating an environment encouraging large blue-green algae blooms. The bitcoin mining company then has the nerve to complain about this same issue because they had to shut operations down multiple times because they couldn't keep the equipment cool enough.

I am surprised they are allowed to do this. Most times they would have to get a cooling tower. Of course then the nimbys would be complaining about that.

 

[ron]

Interesting, thanks for the feedback.

Lastly, so if the poco is ok with the service and power consumption, do they cover the fee of any needed distribution upgrades?

Depends on the utility. Most of the time, they place criteria for minimum billing in the agreement so they recoup their expense or charge for the upgrade.
I recently got a 23MVA service for a data center with no separate charge because they will get their money back in energy costs, but they did have minimum kWh charge if the owner's load didn't appear. It was primary metering so they saw we meant business because we were procuring / installing the distribution and step down transformation from 34.5kV.

 

[Hv&Lv]

Good gosh..
We have a substation feeding four circuits (7.2kV) that is 10MW at times.
The XF is a 20 and it’s 78,000 lbs.
That’s a big “service”