Costa Rica Hydro Power Plant Gets New Life From Crypto Mining

The Bitcoin (BTC) logo is displayed on a cryptocurrency ATM machine in a store in Weehawken, New Jersey, U.S., May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar

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San Pedro de Poas, Costa Rica, Jan 11 (Reuters) – A small river in the middle of coffee plantations, sugar cane fields and forests powers a hydroelectric power plant in Costa Rica that powers hundreds of machines connected to cryptocurrencies computer powered mining business.

More than 650 machines from 150 customers run non-stop in eight containers powered by a factory located next to the Poaz River, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from San Jose, the country’s capital, where nearly all of its energy comes from Green energy.

The state has a monopoly on energy distribution after the plant was forced to renovate itself after 30 years after the government stopped buying electricity during the pandemic due to an oversupply of electricity in the Central American country.

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“We had to suspend activities for nine months, and just a year ago, I heard about bitcoin, blockchain and digital mining,” said Eduardo Cooper, president of the family-owned business, which owns a 60-hectare farm data center CR and factory. (Eduardo Kooper) said.

“I was skeptical at first, but we see that this business consumes a lot of energy and we have a surplus.”

The hydroelectric company owns three plants worth $13.5 million and 3 megawatts of capacity, investing $500,000 to venture into hosting digital mining computers.

International cryptocurrency miners are looking for clean, cheap energy and stable internet connections, and Costa Rica has ample resources, Cooper said. However, he said the Costa Rican government should be more aggressive in trying to attract more crypto mining operations, although he did not give specifics.

The government did not respond to a request for comment.

Costa Rica lacks specific regulation of cryptocurrencies, unlike El Salvador, which became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021.read more

The central bank of Costa Rica said it is providing room for technological innovation to shape the fintech industry and is constantly monitoring developments.

So far, all Data Center CR clients have been local, such as Mauricio Rodriguez, a 31-year-old computer security engineer who is entering the digital mining industry in 2021, earning extra income from home with $7,000 worth of equipment.

“It’s more profitable to install it in this place than at home,” he calculated for almost half the cost after connecting his computer to the river’s power plant’s network.

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Reporting by Alvaro Murillo; Writing by Valentin Hiller; Editing by David Gregorio

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