Bitfarms ( NASDAQ: BITF ) said Monday it received the power permits needed to expand production up to 100 MW at its Rio Cuarto, Argentina, facility. Still, Bitfarms stock dropped 2.9% in Monday premarket trading. The company expects to initially double the active capacity rate to 18 MW and increase its operational hashrate to 5 EH/s. During the week of April 17, Bitfarms ( BITF ) racked 2,100 new miners that were delivered earlier in March and April. On April 21, the private power producer became fully permitted to provide up to 100 MW and enabling Bitfarms to start purchasing low-cost power under its purchase agreement. On April 23, Bitfarms ( BITF ) finished testing the Rio Cuarto substation, which is now online and can deliver 120 MW. By April 28, the company expects to increase activity capacity over 100% to 18 MW. Bitfarms ( BITF ) CEO Geoff Morphy said, "This coming week, at our Rio Cuarto farm, by energizing 2,100 additional miners and ending our underclocking of existing miners, we expect to add 250 PH/s, increasing our total hashrate to 5 EH/s. With the power permit in place, we can now draw power under our contracted agreement currently expected to be below $0.03 per kWh, which is currently the lowest rate in Bitfarms’ portfolio." CFO Jeff Lucas said: "We used a combination of cash and vendor credits to purchase new miners at $14.10/Th. At this favorable pricing, this is a highly accretive transaction projected to have a rapid payback period and to improve overall gross margins, profitability, and operating cash flow." In March, Bitfarms ( BITF ) mined 424 bitcoin ( BTC-USD ), up 9.6% from the previous month.
