Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) has recently launched a formal evaluation of potential AI/HPC uses for remaining 600 MW of power capacity at its Corsicana facility.
Riot Platforms says that it has engaged expert consultants in order to assess AI/HPC opportunities and plans to “accelerate engagement with potential AI/HPC partners.”
Riot Platforms has reportedly halted previously announced Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion operations at the Corsicana facility.
The firm said that it believes that the mixed use of the facility has potential to maximize value for shareholders by offering “long-term, predictable cash flows” to complement existing Bitcoin Mining Operations.
Riot Platforms, Inc., an industry participant specializing in vertically integrated Bitcoin mining, officially “provided a formal update on strategic actions it is taking to maximize the value of its unique asset in Navarro County, Texas.”
Riot is launching a formal process to “evaluate the feasibility of developing the approximately 600 megawatts (MW) of remaining power capacity at the Company’s Corsicana Facility for artificial intelligence (AI)/high-performance computing (HPC) uses.”
To support the assessment of the feasibility of this site “for AI/HPC, Riot has engaged Altman Solon, a consultant to the data center industry, and other industry experts.”
The company currently utilizes “400 MW of capacity for Bitcoin mining at the Corsicana Facility and has up to one gigawatt of total capacity at the site approved by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.”
As previously disclosed, Riot has been engaged in preliminary “discussions with potential AI/HPC counterparties for a number of months.”
The company is now expanding and accelerating outreach “to potential partners in the AI/HPC sector in parallel with this feasibility analysis.”
Jason Les, CEO of Riot, stated:
“Our focus has always been on maximizing the potential of our assets and ensuring that any agreement we enter into with an AI/HPC counterparty would be the result of an informed, thorough process that puts the best interests of all our shareholders first. This is why we are taking the actions announced today. While any conversion of our existing Bitcoin mining facilities to AI/HPC use presents meaningful challenges and investments of time, we believe there is a significant opportunity to maximize the value of the 600 MW of remaining capacity available at the Corsicana Facility and deliver substantial benefit for our shareholders. We are excited to be taking these next steps and look forward to accelerating our process.”
Benjamin Yi, Executive Chairman of Riot, added:
“While we continue to believe in the significant upside of our Bitcoin mining operations, we have recognized for some time the value of having long-term, predictable cash flows from a well-capitalized AI/HPC counterparty. We look forward to providing further updates to our shareholders and the broader market as we and our advisors make progress toward this goal.”
In connection with its evaluation of AI/HPC opportunities, Riot is “halting the development of its previously announced 600 MW Phase II Bitcoin mining expansion at the Corsicana Facility.”
Existing mining operations, constituting the “first 400 MW Phase I development at the Corsicana Facility and Riot’s Rockdale and Kentucky Facilities – as well as associated expansion plans at these locations – remain in place.”
As a result of this action, Riot is reducing its previously announced “total self-mining hash rate capacity growth and associated capital expenditures for 2025 and will provide additional updates as this review process progresses further.”
Previously, the company expected to end 2025 with “a total hash rate capacity of 46.7 EH/s, but in connection with this halt of the expansion of Bitcoin mining operations at the Corsicana Facility, Riot now expects to end the year at 38.4 EH/s.”
The firm said it will continue developing the substation to “support the additional 600 MW of power capacity at the Corsicana Facility, but now projects capital expenditures at the Corsicana Facility in 2025 will be reduced by $245 million.”
As clarified in the update, there is no assurance that Riot’s existing assets are suitable for AI/HPC conversion, that AI/HPC conversion “can be achieved on financially advantageous terms or that an AI/HPC partnership can be negotiated on suitable terms that provide sufficient value for shareholders.”