CoinGeek Mining teams up with BNK Energy to open $15M data center in Kazakhstan

BNK Energy has opened the largest data center in Kazakhstan, which will provide cloud hosting services for CoinGeek Mining’s global fleet.

Located in the city of Ekibastuz in the northeastern region of Pavlodar, the BNK Energy facility—which costs KZT5.7 billion (US$15.32 million)—employs a staff of 16 local technical professionals.

BNK Energy operates with 4MW of energy since its first phase launched in August, but that capacity has been increased by 11MW during the second stage of the launch last September 20, and then by another 18MW in November. BNK Energy projects that the facility will be operating at 33MW by November, with a staff of 60 local professionals.

BNK Energy, described by Egem Qazaqstan news outlet as a provider of “services in the field of [crypto] mining,” offers hosting services for mining farms, including field placement of crypto mining rigs as well as analysis and monitoring of the equipment, and “uninterrupted power and internet communications.”

The firm considers itself one of largest players in the crypto mining field at the moment. It reportedly has chosen to set up operations in Pavlodar due to the surplus of electricity in the region, not to mention the government’s low tariffs for the nascent industry. Pavlodar has been eyeing to attract crypto mining farms and crypto companies as part of its bid to become “a center for popularization of blockchain technologies,” the Kazakh news outlet reported.

BNK Energy officially opened the Ekibastuz facility last Sept. 14, an event that was attended by one of Kazakhstan’s top leaders—Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, who examined the mining cells in the first workshop and electronic meters at the control station, according to the Kazakh news outlet.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony, CoinGeek Mining CEO Taras Kulyk said, “The project is a first step in expanding the scope of services within the country and is crucial to developing a long-term partnership with the world-class team at BNK Energy.”