Riot Blockchain's Texas Mining Operations Disrupted by Winter Storms

blockchain.news:

The cryptocurrency mining company Riot Platforms, previously known as Riot Blockchain, has announced that 17,040 rigs that were installed at its facilities in Texas have been rendered inoperable as a result of the «extreme winter weather» that has been experienced in Texas.

Riot said in a press release dated February 6 that two of the buildings of its Whinstone plant located in Rockdale, Texas were damaged in December as a result of the subzero conditions that the state endured for many days. From the 22nd through the 25th of December, temperatures plummeted below freezing in numerous areas of Texas as well as the rest of the United States.

According to Riot's Chief Executive Officer Jason Les, «certain pieces of pipe in Buildings F and G were damaged during the severe winter storms that hit Texas in late December.» «It is likely that we will miss our previously declared aim of attaining 12.5 in total hash rate capacity in the first quarter of 2023 due to the harm that has been caused,» said the company.

According to Les, the damages caused an initial decrease in the facility's hash rate capacity of 2.5 EH/s. However, when repairs were made, the business was able to return 0.6 EH/s to the facility. As of the 31st of January, the business Riot claimed creating 740 Bitcoin (BTC), which had a value of around $17 million at the time of publishing. Riot announced that there were 82,656 rigs operating with a hash rate capacity of 9.3 EH/s at that time.

Even though significant temperature reductions occurred in many regions of the United States in December due to increased travel over the holiday season, major towns in Texas such as Dallas and Austin were hit by a significant ice storm in early February. As a result of