Global forestry companies want to diversify from pure timberland operations and enter the booming cryptocurrency mining industry. Now, WoodWorking Network reports that next-gen Canadian forest company Conifex is challenging a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling that prohibits the construction of High-Performance Computing data centres in Salmon Valley and Ashton Creek.
The plans, placed on hold late in 2022, come after the British Columbian Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) directed the British Columbia Utilities Commission by Order-in-Council (OIC) to “relieve BC Hydro of the obligation to supply electrical service for cryptocurrency projects for 18 months.”
In April 2023, Conifex filed a petition in the BC Supreme Court, seeking judicial review of the OIC and an order quashing and setting aside the OIC as unauthorized or otherwise invalid. The high court dismissed the petition in February 2024, ruling that while the LGIC could not impose a permanent ban on power, a temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining was valid.
According to Ken Sheilds, Conifex’s Chair and CEO, “Conifex has not been provided with any credible justification for allowing BC Hydro to deny service to our two HPC sites.”
“With the large number of forest sector plant closures over the past few years, it is obvious that forestry companies need to diversify and strengthen their revenue streams to sustain operations.”
Instead, Mr Shields said that “successfully appealing the decision will provide us a clear path to resume work on initiatives that meet the social and economic expectations of our employees, contractors and shareholders, as well as residents of the communities where we operate.”
Mega data centres made with Wood? Bitcoin fuels a new wave of construction
According to Decipher Market Research, the global crypto mining market is worth almost 2 billion dollars (in 2023) and is expected to grow 8.20% per year over the next seven years.
In May, Wood Central revealed that giant data centres, more than 20 times larger than they were just a few years ago, are in the pipeline. The emergence of AI, machine learning, and Bitcoin mining is putting massive demand on data storage.
“AI is real,” according to Robin Khuda, the co-founder of AirTrunk, one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing data centre operators, who last year told the AFR that “the level of growth we are seeing right now is something we have not seen in 10 years. It’s remarkable.”
Speaking at Data Center World in April, Priyal Chheda, Sustainability lead for Corgan—North America’s top data centre architect—said the industry is now in a state of flux, with developers struggling to meet ambitious net-zero targets.
“Work is needed now if targets for 2030 are going to be met,” Ms Chheda said, adding, “Instead of focusing on the difficulties, data centre managers should look for opportunities for good return on investment via sustainability measures.” That includes mass timber construction, which is vital to slashing embodied carbon and meeting net zero targets in North America and worldwide.
- To learn more about how mass timber can be combined with steel-based hybrid systems to build the next generation of data centres, visit Wood Central’s special feature.
