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Topic: ALPS BLOCKCHAIN: mining in Italy from 100% renewable energy (Read 292 times)

legendary
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Thread update.
On the homepage of the site, an image of the installed computing power is shown:



Back in December 22 was something like that:



Also there is an interesting press release

Jun 06 Alps Blockchain strengthens partnership with BITMAIN to quadruple mining capacity and expand international operations

Quote

- Alps Blockchain SpA, leader in Italy in the Bitcoin mining sector and in the development of sustainable solutions for blockchain infrastructure, announces the purchase of new hardware units from BITMAIN, under an agreement with a total value of $32 million.

The order placed concerns the ANTMINER S19 XP, the most energy efficient air-cooling model of mining machines based on the SHA256 algorithm currently available on the market, which is capable of providing a computing power of 140 TH/s at 3 kW. All units are expected to be delivered in multiple batches by the manufacturer between Q2 and Q3 of 2023.

This is a second round of investments of 16 million which doubles a similar investment in Q422. The miners will be deployed into AlpsBlockchain’s mining farms in South America.
legendary
Activity: 2114
Merit: 15144
Fully fledged Merit Cycler - Golden Feather 22-23
Azimut, an italian asset manager, invested 40 millions of euro for the 45% of Alps Blockchain.



This is a very good news, in a moment where topping hashpower, coupled with high energy prices, surely put a dent on Alps business plans!
legendary
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Coindesk dedicated an article to ALPS Blockchain.

How Northern Italian Hydropower Producers Became Bitcoin Miners

These are no particular big news, but a few more pictures and details on the implementation of BA plans:

The Valstagna Basin
legendary
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On the Italian board FFailoni posted a message about the huge profitability they had in the past months, but how this is having little effect on their business plans:

Here the post, translated via GT for your convenience:

<…>

At the moment our customers are break even in short periods, we installed plants in February 2021 which have already fully paid off. This is not always the case, so we cautiously consider 2 years, for projects that have a duration of 4 years. These short re-entries are also supported by the fact that our job is not to be mining resellers, so we don't speculate on the selling price. We interface as a partner for producers, and our job is not to earn on the initial sale, but to make projects that are profitable and last over time.
legendary
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7. What kind of agreement do you have with customers? Mining revenues are inherently uncertain. Who takes the "risk"?
 FF
Quote
The risk belongs to those who bought the miners. We buy the computing power produced from the mining farm at market price and resell it to mining pools.

8. The mining farms are owned by the customers, but you are managing those on their behalf. Does this mean the electricity manager does not need any technical expertise regarding mining?
 FF
Quote
That's right, we create an all-inclusive service, tailormade to our customer needs. We study the productions of the plant and calibrate the farm on those. We create, through collaborations, the electrical, ventilation, sound-absorbing systems amongst the others.
 Then we manage the entire farm and buy what is produced, paying for it by bank transfer. Therefore the producer only has to issue a monthly invoice for how much is produced.

It's interesting that they seem to have no own hardware and they avoid the risks related to increasing difficulty or halving. I really hope that those sending hardware there get ROI in a decent time frame (they should, since the kWh prices are low, but I expect that all the other features - ventilation, maintenance, internet, whatever - won't also come for free).

And it's also interesting that they pay in fiat, meaning that if the price goes sharply up they'll have some earnings the hardware owners won't get?


... I may be missing/misunderstanding something, but while this business is beneficial for the industry, it doesn't look that good for the actual miners. Maybe it did in 2020, but 2021 had quite crazy market movements.
legendary
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Hydroelectric power plants have plenty of potentials, in vast areas of the world. Don't think about "Big Dams", like the Three Gorges in China, think about small, open flows plants, servicing small communities. Lacking public subsides, Bitcoin Mining is the perfect match to grant a positive economic return to these plants.

I know we have already discussed this in some other topics, but I was really interested in how much hydroelectricity is represented in total world production - and the data says that in 2015 that percentage was 16.6%, but with a note that growth of 3.1% is expected each year in over the next 25 years, bringing us to the current 35.2% of total world energy production according to that formula.

As you say, it is even better in all this that small hydropower plants benefit, and that means even greater decentralization because crypto mining is moving to countries where it used to be completely unprofitable. I know there are enthusiasts who mine everywhere in the EU, but if someone asked me if it was possible to profit from BTC mining in Italy, I would certainly tell him that there is no chance of that.

This is now fixed. Thank you for making me aware of it.

You're welcome, it's a shame that the mods in the Mining board don't like your topic Sad
legendary
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A really impressive business venture that I'm hearing about for the first time, even though I'm in the immediate vicinity - but in a country where crypto news (especially positive ones) doesn't interest the media. I don't consider Italy a small country, far from it - so I just imagine how much untapped potential there really is in some other much larger countries with maybe a lot more hydro resources that could give Bitcoin exactly what many find to be a flaw - and that's one green footprint and minimal impact on the environment, which if we are to be honest and now quite negligible. The great news is that this is about to happen, Russia and Chile seem very promising to begin with.

Hydroelectric power plants have plenty of potentials, in vast areas of the world. Don't think about "Big Dams", like the Three Gorges in China, think about small, open flows plants, servicing small communities. Lacking public subsides, Bitcoin Mining is the perfect match to grant a positive economic return to these plants.

@fillippone, purely out of curiosity, I clicked on the link you posted on the profile to Francesca Failoni, but the link does not lead to the profile but opens the main forum page (I found the profile using BPIP).

This is now fixed. Thank you for making me aware of it.
legendary
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...
We also have a hedge in that we can sell the energy to the grid rather then mine with it. So we have an effective bottom price value in case mining coins profit has a collapse.
...
But does that work? I guess it depends on the country.
From what I've heard, the by back value is only a fraction of what gets charged for elec - during the other 16-18 hours a day of no solar.
legendary
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A really impressive business venture that I'm hearing about for the first time, even though I'm in the immediate vicinity - but in a country where crypto news (especially positive ones) doesn't interest the media. I don't consider Italy a small country, far from it - so I just imagine how much untapped potential there really is in some other much larger countries with maybe a lot more hydro resources that could give Bitcoin exactly what many find to be a flaw - and that's one green footprint and minimal impact on the environment, which if we are to be honest and now quite negligible. The great news is that this is about to happen, Russia and Chile seem very promising to begin with.



@fillippone, purely out of curiosity, I clicked on the link you posted on the profile to Francesca Failoni, but the link does not lead to the profile but opens the main forum page (I found the profile using BPIP).
legendary
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Nice My partner buysolar and I have 2 much smaller solar arrays doing mining.

They produce 160kwatts peak  which translates to around 27-32 kwatts average for 24/7/365.  Since New Jersey locations produce about 5 or 6 hours of full power per day. You simply divide the peak number 160/5 = 32 or  160/6 = 26.7

We are hoping to get a 500kwatt peak array built in late 2021/2022 this would be around 83-100kwatts  average for 24/7/365.  Clean green energy that pays off in under 10 years.

We also have a hedge in that we can sell the energy to the grid rather then mine with it. So we have an effective bottom price value in case mining coins profit has a collapse.

It is nice to see some companies are going green to mine. It can be done.
legendary
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Introduction

I have never been affiliated in any way, employed, in any contractual relationships, or acquaintance with Alps BlockChain or any of their employees. I only became aware of the company through an Italian Telegram channel “Bitcoin Italia” where they posted a few pictures of their mining farm. I, therefore, decided to investigate the topic independently, searching for material on the internet and submitting my questions to the CFO Francesca Failoni, whom I thank for the availability, patience, and amount of information she granted to me. I also thank the CEO Francesco Buffa for the "supervision" of the work.


This thread is the English translation of the thread  ALPS BLOCKCHAIN: mining in Italia da energia 100% rinnovabile on the Italian board. ALPS blockchain is quite focused on the Italian market, but, as you can read in the message, they are going to expand also abroad, so I think it could be of interest here.



Who is Alps Blockchain?

Alps Blockchain Srl is a start-up founded in Trento back in 2018, by a group of young entrepreneurs, hardware and software developers, and experienced professionals united by an interest in blockchain technology. Thanks to the characteristics that distinguish it, Alps blockchain has also received a contribution from Trentino Sviluppo Spa, a startup incubator and business development agency established and sponsored by the autonomous Province of Trento. In particular, thanks to the research and analysis carried out, it has been concluded that in the next few years blockchain technology will increasingly become part of everyday life, because it will ensure global interconnectivity of values, not intended only as money but also as goods and services, exactly as it was in the past with the internet as regards the global dissemination of knowledge and information.
 
What does Alps Blockchain do?
The business idea is therefore to make mining sustainable in Italy. The vision is to enhance renewable energy using blockchain technology and Alps Blockchain's value proposition is to enhance Italian hydroelectric energy by giving third parties access to the world of mining, exploiting renewable energy.
ALPS Blockchain, therefore, designs, installs, and manages mining farms right on the hydroelectric energy producers' plants, which then self-consume the electricity produced to produce hashing power which is in turn sold on the mining market by Alps Blockchain. Under this scheme, third parties are enabled to mine sustainably in Italy. The mining plant is studied, designed, and installed custom-made, considering the historical production of the plant and calibrating the absorption on the quantity of energy produced with continuity and transferring the overproduction to the grid. It is therefore a personalized service for each installation, taking into account all current and prospective parameters that influence the business plan.
 
Fig.1 Average cost of different renewable sources. The ALPS Blockchain business plans are made with a cost per Kw of 5 cents. Obviously, a great deal depends on the opportunity cost of selling energy to the grid determined by the PUN (“Prezzo Unico Nazionale”, the Electricity Reference Price for Electricity on the Italian Exchange)

Fig. 2. The business model of ALPS, which basically acts both as a computing power broker and as a manager of mining farms.
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