Alcoa, the largest aluminium producer in the United States, is pushing a plan to sell an idle smelter in upstate New York to a bitcoin (BTC) mining company.

A blockchain media outlet, CoinDesk, reported on April 18 that Alcoa is coordinating a plan to hand over the closed smelter site to New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG).

The asset for sale is the Massena East smelter site near the St. Lawrence River. The site has remained idle for a long period after Alcoa halted operations in 2014, citing high operating costs and intensified global competition. Alcoa Chief Executive Bill Oplinger (빌 오플링거) said talks are well advanced and he expects the deal to be finalised by mid-year.

The focus in the deal is the power infrastructure rather than smelting capacity. Aluminium smelters are designed to operate around the clock, so they are equipped with substations and transmission lines that can draw large volumes of power reliably. Even when the plant stops, such infrastructure remains intact.

For bitcoin miners or data centre developers, this is a major advantage because it can greatly reduce the time needed to secure new grid interconnection rights. Massena East is also able to access hydropower supplied by the New York Power Authority, and is seen as an attractive location for companies seeking low-cost, carbon-free electricity.

Alcoa's push to sell assets coincides with a trend in which power-intensive industrial sites are being revalued as land for digital infrastructure. Earlier this year, Century Aluminum sold a Kentucky smelter to TeraWulf. TeraWulf plans to build a digital infrastructure campus on the site to support high-performance computing and artificial intelligence.

The trend shows that not only crypto mining firms but also data centre operators are looking for large-scale power assets that can be put to immediate use. If Alcoa completes the sale, it is expected to become another case of a long-idled heavy-industry asset being converted into a power hub aimed at demand from bitcoin mining and data centres.