Cryptomine and HPC data center firm MARA is expanded its gas flare generation capacity.

MARA this week announced it has expanded its gas-to-power data center initiative with NGON from 25MW to 50MW. The expansion in North Dakota was completed in four months and is fully energized and operational as of December.

The deployment is using natural gas that would otherwise be burned off at oil well sites to mine for Bitcoin.

The project expands on the original 25MW deployment across wellheads in Texas and North Dakota, announced in 2024. The original 25MW went live in April 2025.

Companies involved in using flared gas to power servers claim the process benefits the environment because otherwise wasted energy is used, and the gas is burnt more efficiently, releasing less unburnt methane. However, it helps increase the revenues of gas projects, helping fund more fossil fuel development.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG); burning it converts it into CO2, a much less potent but more long-lasting GHG.

"If you look at the energy problem today, it's that the consumer of energy is not near where the energy is being generated. The solution is to move demand to where the power is, and that's exactly what Bitcoin mining enables,” said Fred Thiel, MARA chairman and CEO.

Previously known as Marathon Digital Holdings, MARA is one of the biggest Bitcoin miners in the US, predominantly utilizing stranded energy assets to power modular mining units. Like many other cryptominers, it is also targeting AI/HPC developments.

The company claims 1GW of near-term IT capacity across its existing portfolio of 16 sites in the US and UAE, and more than 2.5GW capacity in its pipeline.