Northern BC Bitcoin mines are converting into AI data centers

The company behind three major data centers in northern BC and the Kootenays is making a big change.

Australia-based company Irene started out in Bitcoin mining but is now transitioning to AI data storage. Its stock price has seen a 350 percent increase since the pivot and is now worth US$13 billion.

But the move comes as the province sets new limits on how much power AI data centers can access.

Kent Draper, Irene’s chief commercial officer, said the company originally built its facilities with many different uses in mind, and as AI has become more popular, it has allowed the company to use the same infrastructure it was using for Bitcoin mining for AI workloads.

“In this case, today at our Prince George site, we literally have Bitcoin miners running in the same data hall where we have AI servers running,” Draper said.

Irene’s 50MW Prince George site began offering AI data storage 18 months ago. Draper says they are installing more graphics processing units (GPUs) and once that is complete the site will be used solely for AI.

Work is also underway to upgrade equipment at Irene’s sites in McKenzie and Canal Flats.

Draper claims that the shift to AI will bring more jobs to the sectors as AI data storage is more labor intensive than Bitcoin mining.

Draper said it currently offers 60 permanent positions between the Prince George and McKenzie sites, and they plan to triple those positions. The upgrade will also provide approximately 100 temporary construction jobs during the peak of the expansion.

Draper said Irene was initially attracted to BC because of its access to hydroelectric power and the province’s cool climate allows them to cool equipment without using water.

“We were seeing the return of many manufacturing and industrial users of electricity, particularly pulp and paper mills, lumber mills, etc., and a lot of electrical infrastructure was built to serve those functions,” he said.

policy change

However, in October Province announces policy change who prefers electricity to natural Resource projects and AI will force data centers to bid for power.

BC Hydro will put out a call for projects as early as 2026, and invite companies to compete for access to power. Over a two-year time period, AI projects will have a combined reach of up to 300 MW and other data centers will have a combined reach of 100 MW.

Projects will be assessed to ensure they fit within BC’s economic objectives, such as jobs and benefits to provincial interests, while remaining within the total energy volume allocated to these specific sectors, according to the province.

BC’s policy changes also make permanent its existing ban on new cryptocurrency connections.

Kate Harland, head of research for clean growth at the Canadian Climate Institute, says the change was needed amid rising demand for electricity in the province.

“The old system was very much ‘first come, first served’ and BC Hydro had very little ability to say no to some of the crypto mining sectors that were growing,” he said. “There’s not necessarily that kind of local economic benefit that’s coming with it.”

She says AI data centers have greater potential benefits than crypto mining in terms of telecommunications infrastructure, employment, and computing capacity.

“What other benefits could it bring with it to, you know, another data center, or maybe another industry that’s looking for that same power?”

Draper says Irene won’t be able to expand its Bitcoin operations under the rules, but it had already intended to move toward AI storage. He says Irene will continue to operate and expand in BC, subject to the regulatory restrictions imposed.

He said, “Whenever you have a situation where governments are determining the allocation of resources instead of markets, I think that usually leads to less efficient outcomes than, you know, letting the market decide.”

Draper says Irene is moving forward on its upgrades in BC and work will continue into next year.