American bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings has initiated a pilot project in Finland to use the heat generated from cryptocurrency mining for residential heating.
In Finland, we launched a 2-megawatt pilot project to warm a community of 11,000 residents with recycled heat from digital asset computing. Take a look: pic.twitter.com/eIIlncxD3I
— MARA (@MarathonDH) June 20, 2024
At the end of May, the company launched a 2 MW data center in the Satakunta region, home to 11,000 people.
The thermal energy generated by the mining equipment at the facility will be used for heating and hot water supply.
“This pilot in Finland is an important step forward in our strategy of global expansion and innovation within the paradigm of sustainable development,” said Marathon Chairman and CEO Fred Thiel.
The company referred to a recently launched project in Utah (USA) that uses landfill gas for digital gold mining.
According to Thiel, data centers in Europe account for about 3% of energy consumption compared to the global average of 1-1.5%. This presents significant opportunities for organizing centralized heating through mining.
In May, Marathon agreed with Kenyan authorities to invest $80 million in “green” bitcoin mining in the country.
Back in April, Hashlabs Mining began implementing a project in Finland to utilize heat from bitcoin mining for home heating.