The Batch Zero results are (mostly) in, with most of the notable names in our coverage universe announcing their positioning in the Batch Zero process.
Core Scientific, Ionic Digital, and Cipher Digital are the most recent additions to the confirmed list of Batch Zero candidates.
Core Scientific announced that ERCOT has designated a total of ~1.33 GW of power under Batch Zero, split between 1,028 MW of base load and 300 MW of studied load. Broken down by site:
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Denton (274 MW): Existing capacity classified as base load(with an additional 74 MW expansion approved outside of the Batch Zero process)
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Hunt County (431 MW): Under development and classified as base load
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Pecos (300 MW): Existing capacity classified as base load
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Pecos (300 MW): Expansion capacity classified as studied load
Core Scientific has aspirations to scale Pecos to 1.5 GW gross, so it will shore up the rest with behind-the-meter generation, as the company said during its Q2 earnings.
Looking at Ionic Digital, the company issued a press release today saying that it received base load designation for its 466 MW final phase at Ward County, which would bring the site up to 700 MW.
The outlier here is Cipher Digital. The company announced that it received Batch Zero classifications for 3.2 GW, but it did not specify the sites or whether the designations were base load, studied load, or a mix of both.
In its tweet announcing the classifications, however, Cipher did say that it is "working with our TSPs to review site-specific conditional designations within Batch Zero and will provide further details next week."
Reading between the lines, it's probable that Cipher did not receive all of the base load classifications it hoped for, so it's appealing this decision. If we want to further read into the tea leaves, Cipher's announcement last week that it is building 2.5 GW of natural gas pipelines for on-site generation is starting to make even more sense, as though it expected this outcome.
But that's pure speculation on my part, because Cipher's tweet gave us little to go on.
We do know, however, that Cipher filed multiple sites into Batch Zero: Colchis (1,000 MW, likely base load), Mikeska (500 MW, likely base load), McLennan (500 MW, likely base load), Apollo (900 MW, explicitly submitted as studied load), Stingray expansion (200 MW, explicitly submitted as studied load), Stingray (100 MW of existing load, most likely base load or grandfathered in without Batch Zero), and Barber Lake expansion (500 MW, possible base load).
Cumulatively, these sites add up to 3.7 GW, meaning either one of them didn't make the cut for studied or base load (probably one of the 500 MW sites), or one or more of Cipher's nominal project capacities differ from the actual MW submitted to or classified by ERCOT.
We'll learn more next week once Cipher Digital follows up on next steps. In the meantime, we can take a step back and see exactly how much capacity the bitcoin-miners-turned-AI-data-center-operators have conditionally secured through Batch Zero.
The total now stands at 13.275 GW (6.875 GW of base load, 3.2 GW of studied load, and 3.2 GW from Cipher whose classifications are yet undefined, plus additional undisclosed classifications for IREN).
