Italy’s State-Owned Bank Trials Digital Bonds on Polygon Blockchain
The European Central Bank initiated the trial to explore how blockchains can enhance central bank settlement.
Soluna, a blockchain-based renewable energy power platform, now has $100 million USD in funding for data centres co-located with renewable energy assets. According to the platform, Soluna’s plan is to use the investment to develop multiple data centre campuses in North America, Europe, Asia, and South America.
As part of recent investment, Spring Lane Capital has provided $35 million USD in project finance to Soluna Holdings (SLNH). This funding will enable Soluna to continue its mission of providing the world with sustainable, reliable and affordable energy. Soluna’s data centres are powered by renewable energy, which means they have a lower carbon footprint than traditional data centres.
Soluna funding: From wasted energy to cleaner crypto
According to a release, the funds will be used to expand behind-the-metre (BTM) facilities that will turn wasted renewable energy into clean computing for services like Bitcoin (BTC) mining and artificial intelligence. The data centres will have a lower carbon footprint than traditional data centres and will be more sustainable. Currently, the crypto space has a reputation for being heavy on power. Platforms like Soluna aim to make the industry a little cleaner.
Rob Day, a Spring Lane partner and co-founder declared Soluna the only true green Bitcoin company so far.
“Going after ‘spilled power,’ or wasted renewable energy, is a tempting approach that solves both bitcoin’s climate and wind power’s grid problems.”
How Soluna use the funding in the upcoming months?
Dorothy, the first of the three projects, will be a 100 megawatt (MW) data centre connected to a Texas wind farm that generates more energy than the system can absorb. When the amount of renewable energy produced exceeds demand, the power grid might become overloaded. Soluna’s data centres aid supply management by executing computationally intensive procedures such as crypto mining.
Dorothy is planned to be operational in the coming months, with an initial capacity of 50MW. According to the release, the next two projects would “come from Soluna’s substantial pipeline.” The company has already signed leases for data centre space in the United States, Mexico, Chile, and the United Kingdom.
It recently completed a $29.2 million USD Series A preferred stock public offering and a $10.75 million sale of a business unit.
In the energy, food, water, waste, and transportation industries, Spring Lane Capital’s investment will deliver long-term solutions. The data centre is expected to employ between 25 and 50 highly experienced technologists, security, and electrical personnel. This finance project backs the vision of Soluna Holding in leveraging excess clean energy to generate low-cost computing which is the future of green Bitcoin mining and green data centres.
Soluna is committed to reducing the environmental impact of data centres and this funding will help them achieve their goals. Soluna is just one example of a company that is working to make data centres more sustainable. As the world becomes more reliant on data, it is important that we find ways to reduce the impact that data centres have on the environment.