By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 19th, 2024
Iris Energy expects to be operating at its full 80 megawatts capacity by the end of the year.
Bitcoin mining firm Iris Energy (IREN) has doubled its operating hashrate, roughly a month ahead of the expected time. This follows after the firm completed phase two of its Mackenzie factory in Canada, last Friday. Recall, phase two was earlier slated to be completed by the end of the third quarter (Q3) 2022.
Iris Energy Reaches 2.3 Exahashes per Second, Plans Another 1.4
According to a Monday press release by the mining firm, doubling its hashrate has now brought its computing power to 2.3 exahashes/second (EH/s). However, Iris Energy also confirms that there are plans to add another 1.4 EH/s by September end. Although, that will require 50 megawatts of energy. Essentially, the firm’s total hashrate by the end of September should be up to 3.7 EH/s.
About the achievement, co-founder and co-CEO of Iris Energy, Daniel Roberts expressed his pleasure. More so, considering the current market situation. Roberts said:
“We are particularly pleased to continue our track record of delivering projects on schedule, despite the current market backdrop and ongoing international supply chain challenges.”
Facing Mining Challenges Head-on
Apart from supply chain challenges, there are a few other issues that are common with Bitcoin mining. And one of those is rack space. Rack space certainly appears to be a major limiting factor for miners like Iris Energy. In fact, despite that a good number of miners might have received mining rigs, many of them still do not have where to plug them.
For this reason, Iris Energy has continued to find various ways to engage its remaining 2.3 EH/s of miners. Amongst them is the Bitmain Antminer S19j Pros it recently purchased from Bitmain.
Meanwhile, the firm also recently announced that its total operating capacity by the end of 2022 will no longer be 4.3 EH/s. According to the announcement, it expects that its operating hashrate will be at least 6.0 EH/s by December. That is, with all of its site construction plans fully in motion, the Mackenzie site should be fully operational, and running at full capacity (80 megawatts) by the end of the year.
Expectedly, IREN – the Nasdaq-listed shares of the mining firm, rose by over 10% on the back of the news.