According to a report by Bloomberg, aluminum giant Alcoa Corp. is in advanced negotiations to sell its idled Massena East smelter in upstate New York to NYDIG, a Bitcoin mining and digital asset infrastructure company. Alcoa CEO Bill Oplinger confirmed the late-stage talks in an interview on April 17, 2026, with the transaction expected to close around mid-2026, as first reported by Bloomberg's Jacob Lorinc.
435MW Hydro-Powered Site: From Aluminum to Bitcoin
The Massena East smelter has been dormant since 2014, when Alcoa idled it due to high energy costs and global competition. The property spans approximately 1,300 acres and holds a massive 435 megawatts of electrical capacity, all sourced from the New York Power Authority's Moses-Saunders hydropower dam on the St. Lawrence River. This makes it an ideal location for energy-intensive Bitcoin mining. Since 2018, Alcoa signed a 10-year lease with Coinmint, which later rebranded its local operations as North Country Colocation Services, to convert the facility into a mining campus. Currently, the site consumes about 166 MW and hosts approximately 54,000 Bitcoin miners spread across six former aluminum potlines. NYDIG invested in Coinmint in October 2024, gaining the ability to deploy its mining rigs on site.
Strategic Acquisition for NYDIG
Alcoa did not disclose the financial terms. During the Q1 2026 earnings call on April 16, Oplinger described the potential buyer as a "former partner at the site working on a data center project," consistent with Bloomberg's identification of NYDIG. This acquisition will give NYDIG full ownership of a campus where it has already been operating for over a year. NYDIG has been aggressively expanding its physical Bitcoin mining capacity: in March 2025, it agreed to acquire Crusoe Energy's Bitcoin mining operations, adding over 270 MW of operational capacity. Combined with other North American mining assets acquired in 2024, the Massena East purchase positions NYDIG as a dominant player in the region's Bitcoin mining landscape.
Current Operations and Local Impact
The campus currently draws approximately 166 MW out of its approved 435 MW capacity and houses some 54,000 mining units. Several third-party clients, including CleanSpark, Gryphon, and Bit Digital, have since exited the site. The mining operation in Massena employs about 85 full-time workers across Massena and Plattsburgh. Expansion under NYDIG's ownership is expected to increase that workforce; the city of Massena has already updated local regulations to accommodate cryptocurrency mining and data center activities.
Industry Trend: Repurposing Industrial Sites for Digital Infrastructure
The sale is part of Alcoa's plan to divest approximately 10 idle U.S. smelter sites. Oplinger noted that the company is offering these assets to data center developers and crypto miners seeking large industrial spaces with pre-wired power and utility-scale grid access. A similar deal occurred when Century Aluminum sold its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter to Terawulf for about $200 million in cash and equity for digital infrastructure use. By routing existing hydro capacity directly to the facility, the conversion bypasses years-long waiting periods for new grid connections, a major advantage for large-scale miners. The Moses-Saunders dam's renewable power also appeals to ESG-focused operators, enabling near-zero carbon operations. Alcoa reported strong Q1 2026 results alongside the deal news, with net income of $425 million and adjusted EBITDA of $595 million, driven by aluminum prices. The intersection of Bitcoin mining and industrial repurposing is becoming a compelling narrative in North America's energy transition, unlocking dormant industrial assets for clean-energy-powered digital infrastructure.