Today’s LiveWire Spotlight addresses a recent Market Notice issued by ERCOT which looks to maintain the reliability of the Texas electric system in response to an upsurge of interconnection requests submitted by cryptocurrency mining interests. The Notice focuses on the most immediate problem, which is the ISO’s inability to model and assess the system impact of so many large-load facilities suddenly appearing within their planning footprint.
Starting immediately, server groups connected directly to the transmission grid with demand profiles > 75 MW must be validated by a FAC-002 study before they come online in ERCOT. Clients should expect other states to offer blockchain mining incentives due to its inherent compatibility with variable resources – leading to similar loading problems there.