Bitcoin mining firm Greenidge Generation announced today its plans to expedite the closure of a forty-year-old coal ash landfill in the Finger Lakes region, New York, and turn it into a new solar farm.
“I am thrilled that the success of our clean bitcoin mining operation is not only creating great high-tech jobs for residents here, and supporting local businesses, but will now also facilitate the development of renewable energy at this old landfill site,” said Dale Irwin, President of Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc.
The company, which in May committed to being carbon neutral by 2021, has since been purchasing carbon offsets from a portfolio of U.S. greenhouse gas reduction projects. The goal was to offset the carbon footprint of its natural gas-powered bitcoin mining plant in Upstate New York by June.
Now, Greenidge will reinvest part of that plant’s profits to repurpose the old Lockwood Hills coal ash landfill into a new solar farm. The company intends to work with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to “safely cap and close the landfill and relinquish its existing permit to operate the site,” the announcement said.
Greenidge said it plans to launch a Request for Proposals to evaluate the solar farm project, which it expects to generate up to 5 megawatts of power.
The Lockwood landfill was constructed in 1979 to dispose of coal combustion residuals (CCR) and other wastes produced by the power generation facility prior to Greenidge assuming ownership in 2014.
The landfill remains open and operational today. But according to the announcement, the site will soon stop accepting waste and, once the closure process begins, various steps will be taken to prevent erosion and water infiltration there.
Greenidge Generation Holding Inc. is the parent company of Greenidge Generation LLC, the vertically-integrated bitcoin mining and power generation facility in Upstate New York. The 106-megawatt natural gas plant allows Greenidge to mine bitcoin and meet the power needs of homes and businesses in the Finger Lakes region.
In early July, Greenidge announced its plans to establish a second bitcoin mining operation in South Carolina. A couple of weeks after that, the firm shared it had partnered with Foundry Digital to buy 2,300 bitcoin miners and finance another 6,000. Greenidge also joined the Foundry USA Pool as part of the collaboration.