Mags on Nostr: Gridless has established the first of its kind: a biomass waste powered Bitcoin ...
Gridless has established the first of its kind: a biomass waste powered Bitcoin mining operation in Kenya
Partnering w/ one of the largest sisal producers, @GridlessCompute was instrumental in helping commission a 1.7MW waste biomass power plant at the sisal plantation
Sisal is a natural fiber derived from the sword-shaped leaves of the Agave sisala plant. Sisal is strong & durable natural fiber used to make rugs, mats, ropes, twine, & brushes, as well as in agricultural & industrial products like sacks & reinforcement materials
The leaves are harvested, crushed & scraped to separate fibers from pulp. The fibers are washed, sun-dried, brushed, & graded before being bundled. The sisal plants die after ~10yrs, leaving behind a large bulb. In the past, these redidues were collected & burned in the field
The plantation sought to commission a 1.7MW plant that would use the biomass. But due to covid related delays & the gov canceling a PPA that would permit excess power to feed into the grid, commissioning the plant became uneconomical as it would run at low power & inefficiently. Given that commissioning costs were the same, regardless of generation power, the power plant stood idle & the sisal bulbs were burned in fields, their biofuel potential wasted
Gridless identified the stranded power opportunity & partnered w the sisal production facility, consuming the unused power to run up to 1.1MW of Bitcoin miners. By providing an end use for excess power, Gridless Compute made it economically feasible to commission the powerplant
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cx7k9wZPrFYK1rGJ7
The power plant is fueled by dry sisal bulbs that would be wasted by field burning. The sisal bulbs are dried, transported to the site, & crushed. Biomass is fed to a vertical suspension boiler via a conveyor system & the boiler produces steam to run a turbine & generate power
Before the power generation facility was commissioned, the plantation faced several challenges. The sisal fiber production facility uses 500kW, but their demand has large peaks, fluctuating between 200 and 800kW. The electricity supplied by the national grid is intermittent, with up to 4 power cuts a day. During outages, expensive diesel generators are needed to supply electricity to the factory & time is lost restarting machines after a power outage
Bitcoin miners are power problem solvers. They're the perfect demand response tool & can locate directly at stranded power, incl waste biofuel. Miners also provide a demand response service as the sisal production facility ramps up/ down to balance the load on the power plant
The beauty of this project is that Gridless Compute supported renewable generation in Kenya, & the 1st of its kind at that. Another incredible case study of Bitcoin miners presenting a novel way to identify stranded power & support electricity infrastructure in a far corner of the world
Lastly this project is close to my heart: my Masters thesis focused on biomass supply availability (for biofuels) & I helped shape biofuel policy in Canada before I joined this industry. So I jumped at the chance to come full circle & visit this biofuel Bitcoin mining site
A big thank you to the Gridless Compute team for being incredible hosts & taking us on a tour of the mining site & power plant & facilitating a tour of the sisal production facility. Thank you whiteafrican (nprofile…8984) moronaba (nprofile…ea0n) Janet & Florah for a memorable trip!
Beiwatch (nprofile…z9k3) 7xl (nprofile…jpr0) bitkite (nprofile…ek8n) econoalchemist (nprofile…j708)
Partnering w/ one of the largest sisal producers, @GridlessCompute was instrumental in helping commission a 1.7MW waste biomass power plant at the sisal plantation
Sisal is a natural fiber derived from the sword-shaped leaves of the Agave sisala plant. Sisal is strong & durable natural fiber used to make rugs, mats, ropes, twine, & brushes, as well as in agricultural & industrial products like sacks & reinforcement materials
The leaves are harvested, crushed & scraped to separate fibers from pulp. The fibers are washed, sun-dried, brushed, & graded before being bundled. The sisal plants die after ~10yrs, leaving behind a large bulb. In the past, these redidues were collected & burned in the field
The plantation sought to commission a 1.7MW plant that would use the biomass. But due to covid related delays & the gov canceling a PPA that would permit excess power to feed into the grid, commissioning the plant became uneconomical as it would run at low power & inefficiently. Given that commissioning costs were the same, regardless of generation power, the power plant stood idle & the sisal bulbs were burned in fields, their biofuel potential wasted
Gridless identified the stranded power opportunity & partnered w the sisal production facility, consuming the unused power to run up to 1.1MW of Bitcoin miners. By providing an end use for excess power, Gridless Compute made it economically feasible to commission the powerplant
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Cx7k9wZPrFYK1rGJ7
The power plant is fueled by dry sisal bulbs that would be wasted by field burning. The sisal bulbs are dried, transported to the site, & crushed. Biomass is fed to a vertical suspension boiler via a conveyor system & the boiler produces steam to run a turbine & generate power
Before the power generation facility was commissioned, the plantation faced several challenges. The sisal fiber production facility uses 500kW, but their demand has large peaks, fluctuating between 200 and 800kW. The electricity supplied by the national grid is intermittent, with up to 4 power cuts a day. During outages, expensive diesel generators are needed to supply electricity to the factory & time is lost restarting machines after a power outage
Bitcoin miners are power problem solvers. They're the perfect demand response tool & can locate directly at stranded power, incl waste biofuel. Miners also provide a demand response service as the sisal production facility ramps up/ down to balance the load on the power plant
The beauty of this project is that Gridless Compute supported renewable generation in Kenya, & the 1st of its kind at that. Another incredible case study of Bitcoin miners presenting a novel way to identify stranded power & support electricity infrastructure in a far corner of the world
Lastly this project is close to my heart: my Masters thesis focused on biomass supply availability (for biofuels) & I helped shape biofuel policy in Canada before I joined this industry. So I jumped at the chance to come full circle & visit this biofuel Bitcoin mining site
A big thank you to the Gridless Compute team for being incredible hosts & taking us on a tour of the mining site & power plant & facilitating a tour of the sisal production facility. Thank you whiteafrican (nprofile…8984) moronaba (nprofile…ea0n) Janet & Florah for a memorable trip!
Beiwatch (nprofile…z9k3) 7xl (nprofile…jpr0) bitkite (nprofile…ek8n) econoalchemist (nprofile…j708)