Today, Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA), a leader in Bitcoin mining, has launched a pilot project to recycle the heat generated from Bitcoin mining to heat the community in Finland. The 2-megawatt data center, which was commissioned at the end of May, is located in the Satakunta area, home to 11,000 residents.
JUST IN: Marathon is now heating a village of over 11,000 people in Finland using heat from #Bitcoin mines 🤯 🇫🇮
– Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) June 20, 2024
“This pilot project in Finland is an important step forward in our strategy of global expansion and sustainable innovation,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO. “We don’t just produce digital goods; we heat homes and integrate sustainable practices into our business model. We believe this type of innovation can advance the digital goods computing industry and strengthen Marathon’s leading position in the industry.”
The move marks Marathon’s first regional heating project and its first in Europe. District heating involves heating water centrally and distributing it through underground pipes to heat local buildings. Finland, known for its clean energy mix, relies heavily on biomass for district heating. By using heat from digital asset data centers, the project aims to reduce carbon emissions and operating costs.
Marathon ASIC heatsink setup
“Europe’s cold climate has provided an extensive network of district heating systems that provide warmth to millions of residents,” Marathon said in its new Heating with Hashes report, published in full below. “This climate has attracted a unique industry – data centers – that benefit from reduced energy consumption and infrastructure costs associated with cooler temperatures. The share of electricity used by data centers in the EU is at least twice the global average, with data centers comprising about 3% of electricity consumption -EU in comparison, to 1.0-1.5% worldwide These high energy demand areas produce 3 important amounts of heat, which creates a unique opportunity for strategic cooperation with regional heating systems.
“One industry needs heat, while the other is more productive,” Marathon continues in this report. “Instead of wasting the excess heat produced by data centers, it can be recycled to meet the heating demand. This innovation turns the unwanted product of data centers into a valuable resource for district heating systems, reducing costs and waste for everyone involved while reducing the need for inefficient, carbon-emitting heat sources.” “
Marathon Heat with Hashes Report
The project is part of the Marathon’s wider commitment to sustainability, expanding its footprint to twelve locations across four continents. According to Future Market Insights Inc, the regional heating market is expected to grow from $198 billion to $340 billion by 2033, providing significant growth opportunities. By rebranding, Marathon aims to improve its sustainability portfolio and explore new sources of revenue, aligned with its goal of achieving cost-effective computing power for digital assets.
“Following the success of our pilot project in Utah, where we demonstrated that it is economically viable and environmentally beneficial to use landfill gas for digital asset computing, we have continued to explore new ways in which our operations can add value outside of distributed ledgers. , like Bitcoin’s,” said Adam Swick, Marathon’s chief growth officer. “This pilot project in Finland is our first attempt to turn the heat we produce as a byproduct of our operations into an important resource for the local community. We look forward to collecting more data from this project as we look for more ways to use energy. digital asset compute to build a sustainable future.”
For more information about Marathon’s sustainability programs, visit their website here. Those interested in reading the full Marathon Heat by Hash can do so below:
