Canada-based former cryptocurrency mining company Sato Technologies has signed a letter of intent to develop an AI data center in Bhutan, marking a significant step in the Himalayan kingdom’s push to leverage its abundant hydroelectric power for high-tech infrastructure. The project, located in the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)—a sprawling planned development covering approximately 2,600 square kilometers, or about five percent of Bhutan’s landmass—aims to tap into the growing demand for AI compute capacity in South Asian markets.
The first phase of the campus will involve an initial development of 5MW, with a potential expansion pathway to up to 500MW. Sato said the facility will be powered entirely by Bhutan’s hydroelectric resources, which account for nearly all of the country’s electricity generation. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Bhutan’s total electricity generation stood at around 2.5GW in 2024, meaning the proposed data center, if fully expanded, could consume up to 20 percent of the nation’s power supply.
Both Sato and Bhutan share a history with cryptocurrencies. Founded in 2017 and formerly known as Canada Computational Unlimited Corp, Sato initially offered Bitcoin mining hosting services before pivoting to capitalize on the AI boom. Its only existing data center—a 20MW facility in Quebec—was damaged by a fire in June 2024. Bhutan, meanwhile, has been using its surplus hydroelectric power to mine Bitcoin as a national reserve asset. “Rather than allowing this precious resource to go unused, we chose to convert part of this surplus into a long-term national asset through the responsible mining of Bitcoin,” reads a statement on the Gelephu Mindfulness City’s website.
The deal comes amid broader regional interest in Southeast Asia’s data center market. In August 2023, Singapore-based crypto miner Bitdeer completed a $500 million mining data center in the town of Gedu, capable of hosting 30,000 mining machines. The new project in Gelephu, if realized, would position Bhutan as an emerging hub for AI infrastructure, though the country remains a minor player in the global data center landscape. The development underscores how nations with surplus renewable energy are increasingly attracting tech investments, as hyperscalers and AI firms seek sustainable power sources for energy-intensive computing workloads.
Source: datacenterdynamics