Bitriver Data Center

Bitriver is a data center that rents out its facilities. The data center is located in a building next to the world's largest Bratsk aluminum plant.

2022: Launch of 87.2 MW data center in Irkutsk region

In early June 2022, Bitriver launched a data center in the Irkutsk Region, where customers from different countries will be able to place their computing equipment. The 87.2 MW data center is located in Ust-Ilimsk, 70 people will work there.

This project is of long-term strategic importance for Russia as a whole, as well as for the Irkutsk region and the city of Ust-Ilimsk in particular, - says Igor Runets, CEO of BitRiver. - This is one of the most advanced, most modern enterprises at the junction of power, finance and information technology, which meets high world standards of environmental friendliness. I am sure that this data center will make its significant contribution to the economic development of the region and will work for the well-being of Ust-Ilimsk and its residents.

Launch of a 87.2 MW data center in the Irkutsk region

In addition, on June 7, 2022, an agreement on long-term socio-economic partnership was signed between BitRiver and the Ust-Ilimsk mayor's office.

The first and largest Bitriver data center in Russia is also located in the Irkutsk region. It was launched in 2019 in the city of Bratsk.

By June 8, 2022, the company launched a total of six data centers in Russia, three more large facilities are under construction. The total capacity exceeds 300 MW, more than 100 thousand units of computing equipment are placed.

It is noted that all data centers are located in the regions of Russia, which are suitable for the operation of energy-intensive equipment: with the hydropower potential of "green" renewable energy, cold climate and low electricity tariffs.

The press service of TASS clarified that by June 8, 2022, Bitriver plans to build new data centers in the republics of Tuva, Buryatia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The company employs more than 500 people.^[1]

2020: Procurement of 70 MW mining equipment

The founder of the operator of data centers BitRiver Igor Runets said that at the end of December 2020, one batch of 20 thousand devices (14 trucks) of equipment for mining bitcoin with a total capacity of 70 MW took place. Then bitcoin began to mine on it. According to Igor Runts, a separate hangar was launched for the client in Bratsk (Irkutsk Region) as a separate Tier-III data center. All equipment with an estimated cost of $40-60 million came from Asia. According to experts, it is capable of providing three months of operation of the entire retail mining market in the country. Such transactions, experts say, will help Russia maintain the third place in mining in the world.

2019: Details on Oleg Deripaska's energy crypto farm

The agency Bloomberg visited Bitriver data center and on November 24, 2019 shared information about the "largest crypto farm in the CIS" created at the data center's facilities. Formally, Bitriver is not engaged, but mining provides its capacity for rent to everyone. The data center was opened in 2018, but has already managed to attract customers from all over the world, including, and. USA China Japan

Bitriver Rus LLC leases a building near the world's largest Bratsk aluminum plant, which was built in the 1960s together with the Bratsk hydroelectric station: electricity accounts for the main costs of both smelting aluminum and mining bitcoins. The capacity of the farm itself, according to Bloomberg, is 30 MW - this is 5% of all crypto-calculating capacities in Russia (600 MW) and almost 0.5% of the world (7GW). Also, mining equipment must be cooled, which is not a problem in Siberia (the average annual temperature is minus 2 ° C).

The data center has two premises with a total area of ​ ​ more than 15,000 square meters. m, the territory is guarded around the clock by the Russian Guard. Employees of the center were trained at mining plants in Shenzhen.

The Bratsk Aluminum Plant and the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station through En + are owned by UC RusalOleg Deripaska, writes Bloomberg^[2]

Maxim Sokov, the general director of En + Deripaska, spoke about the idea of ​ ​ making money on miners at that time back in 2018. According to him, the aggregate demand of miners for the company's energy was supposed to be 100 MW per year. This could bring the company an additional billion rubles, analysts estimated at the request of Vedomosti^[3] Deripaska structures were ready to provide miners with five sites, Bratskaya is the most powerful of them. In addition, the UC Rusal plant in Karelia, which was closed due to sanctions, was completely given under mining^[4]

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