Cryptomining and HPC firm Hut 8 has been awarded a five-year capacity contract with the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) for 310MW of natural gas generation assets.

The portfolio is owned and operated by Far North Power Corp, a partnership between Hut 8 and Macquarie Equipment Finance, a subsidiary of the Macquarie Group. Macquarie holds a 20 percent stake in the company, with Hut 8 controlling the remaining 80 percent stake.

The assets are spread across four sites and were originally acquired by the company in February 2024. They include a 110MW facility in Kingston, a 120MW facility in Iroquois Falls, a 40MW facility in Kapuskasing, and a 40MW facility in North Bay.

“Securing these contracts is a testament to the commercial and regulatory fluency of our power-native team,” said Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8. “It reflects our proactive approach to portfolio management and our focus on identifying value-accretive opportunities to maximize returns on our Power assets.”

Far North was awarded the contracts through the competitive IESO Medium-Term 2 capacity auction. The contracts will come into force on May 1, 2026.

They include a weighted average capacity payment of approximately CAD $530 (US$389.6) per MW-business day in year one with partial inflation indexation that allows for potential increases over time.

“This milestone for Far North is [an] affirmation of the business and our relationship with Hut 8,” said Joshua Stevens, managing director in Macquarie Group’s Commodities and Global Markets business. “These contracts position the Far North power plants in Ontario for long-term relevance in a capacity-constrained power market, demonstrating the value we strive to bring as a capital provider.”

Hut 8 currently operates 15 sites across the US and Canada, with a combined capacity of 1.02GW. These are comprised of five Bitcoin mining, hosting, and managed services sites in Alberta, New York, and Texas, as well as five HPC data centers in British Columbia and Ontario, four power generation sites in Ontario, and one non-operational site in Alberta.

Earlier this week, the company launched a 205MW Bitcoin mining data center in Texas. The facility spans 162,000 sq ft (15,050 sqm) and is powered behind-the-meter by a wind farm and also has a firm ERCOT grid connection.

The company acquired five colo data centers in Canada from TeraGo in 2022, and merged with US Bitcoin in 2023.

Hut 8 acquired a majority stake in American Bitcoin in April, joining forces with its management team, which includes the son of President Donald Trump, Eric Trump.