By Fortitude Mining, the Digital Currency Group-backed cryptocurrency miner focused on Zcash, has brought a new 12-megawatt mining facility online in Grand Island, Nebraska, a move the company says will significantly reduce its mining costs while strengthening its owned infrastructure footprint.
The facility is Fortitude’s first greenfield data center built entirely from the ground up. Following construction and electrical testing, the site has entered commercial operations, increasing the company’s owned and operated power portfolio to more than 60 MW across seven facilities located in Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas and New York. The expansion forms part of Fortitude’s strategy of controlling both its mining infrastructure and power supply rather than relying on third-party hosting providers. The company believes ownership of critical infrastructure provides greater operational flexibility, lower long-term costs and additional opportunities to participate in electricity demand-response programs.
Chief Executive Andrea Childs said the owned-and-operated model underpins Fortitude’s vertically integrated Zcash strategy and allows the company to scale independently while maintaining tighter control over operating expenses.
Lower Electricity Costs Drive Mining Economics
Fortitude expects the Nebraska facility to reduce its direct cash cost of mining Zcash from approximately $70 per coin to around $40 per coin, representing a decline of roughly 43%, assuming successful deployment of mining hardware and stable electricity prices, network difficulty and cryptocurrency market conditions. The projected savings stem from two primary factors: lower electricity costs and newer-generation mining equipment. The company estimates power costs at the Grand Island site will average approximately $0.045 per kilowatt-hour, significantly below the cost of leased hosting capacity.
The facility is located adjacent to two solar-generation sites and near a substation with excess transmission capacity. It will operate as an interruptible load, allowing electricity consumption to be reduced during periods of peak grid demand while helping support local grid stability. Fortitude believes combining owned power assets with in-house infrastructure development will improve profitability throughout future mining cycles while reducing dependence on external hosting providers.
Public Listing Plans Continue
The Nebraska expansion comes shortly after Fortitude announced a proposed business combination with HeartSciences Inc. that is expected to take the company public during the second half of 2026, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. Founded as part of Digital Currency Group’s mining operations, Fortitude has increasingly shifted its focus toward Zcash after previously mining a broader mix of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies. According to recent company disclosures, Zcash has become the firm’s largest source of mining revenue, reflecting both higher ZEC prices and a strategic reallocation of computing resources.
Alongside the new facility, Fortitude has also invested heavily in expanding its infrastructure, including commitments totaling approximately $45 million for mining equipment, land, buildings and power-related assets. The company says the Nebraska project represents the first stage of a broader expansion strategy combining greenfield developments with targeted acquisitions across the proof-of-work mining sector. As competition among cryptocurrency miners increasingly centers on securing low-cost electricity, Fortitude’s latest investment underscores the growing importance of power ownership as a competitive advantage. If the company achieves its projected reduction in mining costs, it could strengthen its position as one of the largest institutional Zcash miners while improving resilience against future fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices and network difficulty.