Validus signed up as Hut 8’s energy supplier in October 2021.
North Bay is the third Bitcoin mining site of Hut 8 in Canada.
The North American Bitcoin Mining Corporation Hut 8 proceeded with a lawsuit filing against one of its energy suppliers Validus Power Corp in Ontario. On Thursday, Hut 8 filed a “Statement of Claim” in the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, taking the crucial step in the ongoing dispute that began in late 2022.
Hut 8 stated:
“Hut 8 and Validus have been in an ongoing dispute due to Validus’ failure to meet its contractual obligations in the power purchase agreement (PPA) it entered into with the Company. Hut 8 is seeking various relief including enforcement of certain provisions of the PPA and monetary damages incurred as a result of the dispute.”
The Toronto-based energy supplier Validus has been the third-party supplier of Hut 8’s North Bay mining facility which began operations in late 2021. Notably, North Bay is the third Bitcoin mining site of Hut 8 in North America. It hosts over 8,800 ASIC mining rigs with a hash rate of 0.84 EH/s, according to Hut 8’s data.
Bitcoin Miner Vs Energy Supplier Dispute
According to the PPA, Validus assured to deliver 100MW of power to the Bitcoin mining facility in Northern Ontario. Initially, the mining site started off with a 35MW power supply. But Validus failed in meeting Hut 8 supply demand as per obligations in the agreement.
Inadequate supply and high pay for energy prompted the Canadian Bitcoin Miner to issue a default notice to Validus in November 2022. Following this, Validus retaliated by suspending the energy supply to Hut 8’s mining operations in North Bay. The supplier issued a default notice highlighting Hut 8’s incomplete payment status as the reason for discontinuing the supply.
Through an update, Hut 8 denied the allegation. Since then, the dispute between Hut 8 and Validus continued. With the recent lawsuit, the Canadian Bitcoin miner exhibits its strong stance in environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-centric route.