Hut 8 slowed production in Drumheller over power price, but not the Hat

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on June 10, 2022.

https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

High power prices in May caused Hut 8 to intermittently slow production at its Drumheller dataprocessing centre, the company announced in an operational update this week.

“Power costs continued to fluctuate throughout the month, and we limited our consumption at Drumheller when the spot price of power spiked,” the report stated.

Spiking power prices didn’t affect its larger cryptomining facility in Medicine Hat, where the company and city-owned utility signed a fixed-price supply contract in 2018.

The operational change also comes as Bitcoin has lost about half its value among cryptocurrency traders since the beginning of 2022. According to Coindesk, Bitcoin was trading above US$31,300 on Tuesday afternoon.

Hut 8 also announced that it commissioned its third data processing facility in North Bay, Ont. on June 2, bringing on initial processing capacity to consume 15 megawatts of power in a refitted natural gas power plant.

“We are thrilled that our most powerful and efficient machines are now mining Bitcoin at our North Bay site,” said Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8. “Over the next several weeks, our team will continue to install and bring miners online in real time, complementing production at our facilities in Medicine Hat and Drumheller.”

When the North Bay site was announced in October, the company stated on-site power production could total 37 megawatts.

In Alberta, the average weekly pool price in May ranged from $113 to $141 per megawatt hour (equal to 11.3-cents to 14.1-cents per kilowatt hour), according to the Alberta Electrical System operator.

The year-to-date average for power price is $102, up slightly from the whole-year average of $100 in 2021.