Pilot project explores sustainable greenhouse heating using liquid-cooled mining servers
Bitcoin mining hardware maker Canaan has launched a 3 megawatt proof-of-concept project in Canada that combines cryptocurrency mining and commercial agriculture. The initiative aims to demonstrate how waste heat from high-density computing can be reused to support year-round tomato production in cold climates.
The pilot is located at a greenhouse facility in Manitoba and uses 360 liquid-cooled mining servers deployed across four containerized modules. Instead of releasing excess heat into the air, the system captures it through a closed-loop heat-exchange process and redirects it to preheat water for the greenhouse’s electric boilers.
Canaan estimates that up to 90% of the electricity consumed by the mining equipment can be recovered as usable heat, though final efficiency data will be confirmed once operations stabilize. The setup is designed to achieve 95% uptime over an initial 24-month agreement.
The project operates at an estimated all-in power cost of $0.035 per kilowatt-hour, covering electricity, maintenance, and operations. By integrating directly into existing heating infrastructure, the system avoids traditional cooling towers and could lower both capital and operating costs.
By recycling heat that would otherwise be wasted, the facility is expected to circulate up to one million tonnes of hot water annually, reducing reliance on fossil-fuel heating and improving overall energy efficiency in greenhouse operations.
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