Marathon Digital repurposes crypto mining heat to warm homes in Finland
Marathon Digital Holdings, a major cryptocurrency mining firm, is repurposing the heat generated from one of its data centers in Finland to power a district heating system. The pilot scheme uses warmth from Marathon’s 2MW data center in the Satakunta region to heat homes for some of the area’s 11,000 residents. This initiative marks a significant step in Marathon’s strategy to integrate sustainable practices into its business model, according to Datacenterdynamics.
“This pilot project in Finland is a critical step forward in our strategy to expand globally and innovate sustainably,” said Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO. “We are not just producing digital assets; we are heating homes and integrating sustainable practices into our business model. We believe that this kind of innovation can drive the advancement of the digital asset compute industry and further strengthen Marathon’s leading position in the field.” according to Datacenterdynamics..
Marathon sees selling recycled heat as a potential new revenue stream. The company has not disclosed whether it is receiving a fee for the heat used in this pilot scheme. Cryptocurrency mining is known to be energy-intensive, with Cambridge University’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimating that Bitcoin mining alone consumes 150 TWh of electricity annually.
Marathon Digital operates with a capacity of 760MW, mainly powered by the US grid, which relies 80% on fossil fuels. However, the company has started transitioning to more sustainable energy sources. Last year, Marathon launched a pilot project in Utah, using landfill methane gas to power a 280kW Bitcoin setup. This demonstrated the economic and environmental benefits of using alternative energy sources for crypto mining.
Adam Swick, Marathon’s chief growth officer, commented: “Following the success of our pilot project in Utah, where we demonstrated that it is both economically viable and environmentally beneficial to use landfill gas for digital asset compute, we have continued to experiment with innovative ways that our operations can add value beyond securing distributed ledgers, like Bitcoin’s. This pilot project in Finland is our first attempt to convert the heat that we produce as a byproduct of our operations into a valuable resource for a local community.”
In a similar vein, Mawson Infrastructure is expanding its data center in Pennsylvania by 20MW. The addition will bring the Midland site’s total operating capacity to 120MW. Mawson’s growth highlights the increasing demand for reliable, efficient, and sustainable digital infrastructure solutions.
Meanwhile, TeraWulf is nearing the completion of its fourth data center building at the Lake Mariner campus in New York. This site draws 90% of its energy from hydropower, with plans to eventually reach a capacity of 500MW. The development at Lake Mariner is supported by a $215 million investment, including contributions from celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow.
