Cryptomine firm Cipher Mining is to procure hundreds of megawatts of wind energy in Texas.

Engie North America this week announced it has entered into a preliminary agreement with Cipher Mining for a power supply agreement to power a Cipher data center in Texas.

The agreement would allow Cipher to purchase up to 300MW of energy from one of Engie’s wind facilities. The new arrangement would leverage the wind project’s renewable energy generation to power the co-located data center.

The energy company said that the deal supports the use of surplus energy during periods of excess generation, enhancing grid stability and reliability.

Further details on the deal weren't shared.

“Engie is committed to pursuing innovative solutions that maximize the value of renewable generation and improving cost effectiveness of delivering clean energy supply to our customers,” said David Carroll, chief renewables officer & SVP, Engie North America. “We are focused on meeting the growing need for power by our customers as they expand their operations in the US, and renewables is an essential part of supplying this increasing demand.”

Cipher was spun off from Bitcoin mining hardware giant Bitfury in March 2021 and went public via a merger with blank-check company Good Works Acquisition Corp. According to its latest earnings presentation, Cipher currently claims around 327MW of operating capacity and a total development pipeline of 2.8GW.

Cipher’s current portfolio includes cryptomining sites in Odessa, Texas (207MW). It operates a site in Alborz (40MW), and two other joint venture sites near Andrews, known as Bear (40MW) and Chief (40MW), alongside WindHQ.

It has further development projects in Texas: Black Pearl will offer 150MW of cryptomining capacity; Barber Lake is a 587 acre-site located near Colorado City, Texas that could reportedly offer 800MW at full build-out; Located in Cotulla, Reveille will initially offer 70MW, but is said to be scalable to 200MW; and Stingray is a data center site in West Texas with 100MW of front-of-the-meter capacity in Andrews Count.

A previous company presentation also notes options on Mikeska (500MW, outside Brady), Milsing (500MW, outside Houston), and McLennan (500MW, outside Waco) sites that are expected to energize in 2027.

Engie has signed PPAs with the likes of Orange, STMicroelectronics, Google, Meta, Iliad, Microsoft, Amazon, Digital Realty, and others.