Fortitude, Zcash Mining Company, Begins Operations at Nebraska Facility... Expansion Amid IPO Push

Fortitude, a Zcash mining company, has activated a 12-megawatt (MW) mining facility in Grand Island, Nebraska. According to the blockchain media outlet Decrypt, this brings Fortitude's self-owned power portfolio to seven sites with over 60MW capacity. The facility, Fortitude's first greenfield data center, has completed construction and testing, with commercial operations now prepared. The company expects to reduce direct Zcash mining costs from approximately $70 to $40 per coin, contingent on equipment deployment and stable power/network/market conditions. The facility's estimated power purchase price is around $0.045 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), situated between two solar farms and near a substation with excess capacity. It will operate as a flexible load to manage demand fluctuations. CEO Andrea Childs highlighted owning and operating power infrastructure as foundational to Zcash's vertical integration strategy and venture mining platform, emphasizing operational flexibility over capacity leasing.