Italian energy company Alps Blockchain, working with Bolivian firm Kuruvika, has started a Bitcoin mining operation at a decommissioned natural gas power plant in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
The plant has a capacity of 127 MW. At launch, it runs on about 27 MW of that power, according to a report cited by BitcoinWorld.
On the mining side, the facility is operating at a hashrate of 1.23 exahashes per second (EH/s), also reported via BitcoinWorld and attributed to Beets.
That setup is the real story. Repurposing a power plant can reduce friction versus building new generation from scratch. But starting at 27 MW also signals a staged rollout. Farms rarely go from zero to full capacity on day one unless the grid, heat removal, and contracted operations are ready.
Why it matters
Mining is a power business dressed up as a math contest. Alps Blockchain’s choice of a former 127 MW gas site in Cochabamba links its production to infrastructure already on the ground, rather than to new build schedules.
Still, the numbers in the BitcoinWorld report point to scale constraints. 27 MW and 1.23 EH/s tell you the current fleet size and energy draw. Investors in the mining asset also face typical risks tied to energy reliability, equipment availability, and how quickly the company can ramp.
Market impact
This doesn’t read like a market-level shock. The report frames a specific facility, with a specific power draw and hashrate snapshot, rather than an industry-wide change.
Hashrate moves do matter, but the newsroom expects the practical effects to show up in operational patterns first. That means the pace of ramp, outage frequency, and whether the operation sticks to its stated energy plan.
Facility facts (as reported)
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Power plant capacity | 127 MW | BitcoinWorld |
| Power used at launch | ~27 MW | BitcoinWorld |
| Location | Cochabamba, Bolivia | BitcoinWorld |
| Mining hashrate | 1.23 EH/s | BitcoinWorld, via Beets |
| Partners | Alps Blockchain and Kuruvika | BitcoinWorld |
What to watch next
The next milestone is whether the site scales beyond the initial 27 MW. Bitcoin mining operations usually publish ramp targets only after the first set of deployments clears real-world constraints like cooling and maintenance.
Also watch for updated hashrate and power draw figures. The BitcoinWorld report gives one snapshot. If subsequent updates track upward in line with capacity, that supports the ramp story. If not, that’s a clue the operation hits a bottleneck.
Finally, keep an eye on disclosure details. This report names partners and provides operational metrics. More granular reporting on uptime, miner fleet, and energy sourcing would reduce the guesswork for anyone assessing the risk profile of the mining operation’s assets.