The British landfill where programmer James Howells lost a disk containing 8000 bitcoins worth $781 million at current prices is located is planned to be closed and a solar power plant built in its place.
Newport City Council plans to close the landfill in the 2025-2026 financial year. City officials believe that the landfill has reached its end of life and that the cost to the budget is unjustifiably high. For this reason, they decided to generate additional income by building a solar power plant in its place.
Recall that IT specialist James Howells claims that the discarded hard drive contains 8 bitcoins that he mined in 000. According to him, the drive was accidentally thrown away by his ex-girlfriend in 2009.
For years, he tried to get permission to search for the drive, offering the council a cut of the funds if he succeeded. He even hired artificial intelligence experts to come up with a plan for a Bitcoin-hunting operation that would not cost the local government anything.
However, in January 2025 the court rejected the claim Howells, ruling that the case had no realistic prospect of success. In October, Newport Council also noted that excavation was not possible due to environmental restrictions and potential damage to the environment.