HIVE Digital Technologies Targets $45 Million Annual Revenue from AI Center in Sweden

HIVE Digital Technologies' Ambitious AI Data Center Plans

HIVE Digital Technologies, known for its Bitcoin mining operations, is actively pursuing an ambitious revenue target of $45 million annually from a proposed AI data center situated in Sweden. However, the company has yet to finalize a lease agreement, which is essential for the project's advancement.

Potential of the Big Boden Facility

In their recent earnings report, HIVE highlighted the potential of its Big Boden facility, boasting a capacity of 32 megawatts, to produce this significant revenue through a long-term colocation agreement. CEO Aydin Kilic clarified during a Tuesday earnings call that successful revenue realization hinges on several factors, including a conclusive lease, financing arrangements, updates to the facility, and the project’s rollout.

"We do not want to rush into a deal just for the sake of reporting new top-line revenue," Kilic emphasized, according to the transcript of the earnings call.

Project Development and Enhancements

This initiative first came to light in June and involves collaboration with a reputable Swedish tech firm, though details about the partner remain undisclosed. The projected lease could extend up to a decade, and Kilic noted that discussions around critical terms such as deposits and termination rights are ongoing, which may subsequently influence financing expenses. Recent site evaluations by a lender's consultant also took place last week.

Before HIVE can move forward with funding for the Boden project—potentially through corporate bonds—it must secure the signed lease, although there’s no confirmed timeline for when these negotiations will conclude.

Moreover, the facility is poised for substantial enhancements to accommodate up to 10,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs, utilizing advanced liquid cooling techniques to manage high-density computing needs. Although the facility is connected to the grid with a total of 32 megawatts, approximately 25 megawatts will be allocated to the customer’s computing operations, with the surplus powering the data center’s infrastructure.

Strategic Shift Towards AI

Kilic described how the evolution of this site marks a departure from its initial role as a GPU computing facility for Ethereum, indicating a shift toward a stronger AI-focused capability. This aligns with HIVE's strategy to diversify its operations beyond Bitcoin mining, a move that has already led to several key GPU-cloud contracts.

For instance, HIVE secured a substantial three-year AI computing contract with Bell Canada and Cohere in June, involving 2,304 Nvidia GPUs, further solidifying its commitment to expanding beyond crypto-related tasks. Presently, HIVE boasts a reported annualized run-rate revenue of $185 million from contracted GPU-cloud endeavors, though only $40 million of this is active, with the remaining capacity yet to be deployed.

Future Goals

Looking ahead, HIVE aims to achieve approximately $700 million in total high-performance computing revenue by the close of 2028, a goal that includes projects needing further financing, construction, and established client commitments. The immediate next step for HIVE regarding the Boden site is to finalize a definitive lease agreement before advancing with financial arrangements for the project.