Data company sets its eyes on the new sector — and it could cause significant change in investment patterns
IREN is a data-center firm seeking to upend the cryptocurrency industry's relationship with the energy sector — and to clean up energy-intense computing more broadly.
Formerly known as Iris Energy, the Sydney-based company was founded in 2018 and operates renewable energy-powered data centers in Canada and the United States.
"Our facilities are optimized for Bitcoin mining, AI cloud services and other power-dense compute," the company states, boasting its 100% renewable credentials.
In January, IREN announced a 1,400-megawatt facility in Sweetwater in West Texas, expected to come online in April 2026. It already has a 750-megawatt operation in Childress County, which is about 150 north and 250 miles northwest of Dallas, that is partly functional and still under construction.
The 420-acre Childress site showcases the crypto industry's goal for the future of digital currencies. It is located in a wind and solar power hotbed, where the cost of energy is cheap. IREN says the region has 37 gigawatts of renewable energy but can transmit only about 12 because of infrastructure limitations.
"This constraint currently results in wind and solar farms often being curtailed (or temporarily turned-off) at times of high renewable energy generation due to a lack of local load," according to the company.
The presence of the data center, however, means that excess energy produced on particularly windy or sunny days can be used rather than wasted. When the intermittent renewable energy supply is low, on the other hand, it can similarly reduce its consumption, balancing the grid and protecting against threats such as extreme weather-caused blackouts.
It's a working example of a green tech dream, as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have long been criticized for their energy demands, which reportedly match those of small countries. Crypto miners also consume vast quantities of water to cool their equipment and produce e-waste as they upgrade tools.
Using clean energy instead of dirty energy reduces the emission of heat-trapping gases that pollute the atmosphere and contribute to the climate crisis, which is harming humanity, wildlife, and the planet.
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IREN is betting that its practices will not only mitigate these problems but also usher in a new era of sustainable, profitable investment. It hopes to push other cryptocurrencies as well as other industries toward renewables, which would help expand clean infrastructure via increased demand, and to spur economic growth and social responsibility by meeting the needs of communities underserved by traditional finance.
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