MUSKOGEE – Polaris Technologies officials announced recently that the company is investing $100 million to construct a 200-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility at Port Muskogee’s John T. Griffin Industrial Park.
This will be M uskogee’s first operational data center. Plans announced two years ago for development of two other data centers in the industrial park subsequently failed to materialize.
The Polaris site encompasses “40 acres, more or less,” Deputy Port Director Jeff Underwood told Southwest Ledger. Construction has already begun and, “I believe Polaris is targeting Phase 1 being energized in April,” he said.
“This facility is a testament to our commitment to advancing mining operations within crypto technology,” said Alex Zha ng, CEO of Polaris Technologies. “Muskogee provides the ideal environment for a project of this scale because of its r eliable power,” he said.
Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. has a 1,716MW generating station just nor th of Muskogee on the e ast bank of the Ar kansas River. In addition, a 1,000MW electricity substation has been built near the Polaris site, according to Data Center Dynamics.
Polaris Technologies “will focus on developing and deploying digital industry skills within the IT sector” and plans to f ill “20 tech positions spanning roles in facili ties support, systems administration, data center technicians, and additional support services,” Zhang said. “We look forward to contributing to the growth of the local economy and the crypto industry.”
“We are proud to welcome this data center to Muskogee as our city positions itself as a prime destination for tech companies,” said Kimbra Scott, executive director at Port Muskogee. “We are grateful for Polaris’s investment and look forward to how they’ll foster talent, innovation and contribute to Muskogee’s economic success.”
“Polaris Technologies’ investment aligns with our vision to become a h ub for high-tech, living wage jobs,” Muskogee Mayor Marlon Coleman said. “This is a huge win for a community our size.”
Zhang said Polaris is “optimistic about a Phase II expansion” that will double capacity by another 200MW, “creating additional investment opportunities and tech jobs for the region.”
Besides the planned expansion, Polaris envisions a Bitcoin mining equipment repair facility on-site “in collaboration with Bitman,” which would lead to “ the creation of further employment opportunities,” Underwood told the Ledger.
Polaris claims it is a “leading Bitcoin mining data center company, specializing in robust infrastructure solutions tailored to the unique needs of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”
Reportedly dubbed Project Bifrost, the Muskogee center will be Polaris’s first largescale project in the U.S.
Other crypto projects announced in 2022
Two years ago, YZY Capital Holdings announced plans to invest $100 million, and to buy 136.5 acres, on which to develop two 50MW data centers in Muskogee County: one at the tiny town of Ok taha (between Muskogee and Checotah) and the other in Muskogee’s John T. Griffin Industrial Park.
YZY completed the 50MW project on 10.5 acres in Oktaha and that facility is “currently operational,” Underwood reported.
But subsequently YZY Capital “opted to diversify their Bitcoin mining locations,” and because of that “ strategic decision” the Muskogee City-County Port Authority has reacquired from YZY the 126 acres in John T. Griffin Industrial Park, Underwood said.
Also in February 2022, Core Scientific announced plans to develop a 500MW data center in the por t’s industrial park.
Core Scientific owns a 60-acre parcel in the industrial park “conveniently adjacent to OG&E’s 1,000MW substation,” Underwood told the Ledger. Core Scientific “dedicated significant investment – tens of millions of dollars – for development of the site ,” he said. “This included construction of a sub station and preparing the location for operational activities.”
However, prior to completion of construction, Core Scientific “faced challenges due to a dec line in Bitcoin prices, leading them to f ile for bankruptcy,” Underwood related. The company has since emerged from bankruptcy “and is in the pr ocess of evaluating their options for the John T. Griffin Industrial Park site,” he said.
Besides the one at Oktaha, Oklahoma has nine other data centers in three cities, according to datacenters. com: five in Oklahoma City, three in Tulsa, and a Google data center in the MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor.
Crypto mining produces thirst for electricity
Crypto mining data centers have an enormous thirst for electricity because they employ many computers that require cooling equipment to keep the constantly running hardware from overheating. One comparison from 2021 was that at le ast 13 years of typical ho usehold electricity is consumed to produce each mined Bitcoin.
It is possible to participate in Bitcoin mining with an athome personal computer equipped with some of the l atest and fastest hardware, but the ‘miner’ might make only a few cents per day.
On Oct. 18, 2023, a Bitcoin price w as approximately $28,400.
Presumably the P olaris data center will consume a l arge volume of e lectricity and thus become a major industrial customer for OG&E.
“OG&E will su pport Polaris through our current infrastructure, which entails receiving electricity from an interconnected power grid that is ma naged by the Southwest Power Pool,” the utility told the Ledger in response to a n inquiry. “Many regional power plants, including OG&E’s Muskogee Power Plant, supply power to this interconnected grid, allowing electric companies and the SPP to o perate eco nomically across the entire grid, ultimate ly benefitting all cus tomers by increasing reliability.”