The largest aluminum producer in the U.S., Alcoa, is close to selling its idle Massena East smelter in upstate New York to bitcoin firm New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), as it offloads dormant assets and taps demand for energy-ready industrial sites.

The company’s chief executive officer, Bill Oplinger, said the company is in advanced talks and expects the deal to close “in the middle part of this year,” Bloomberg reports.

The site, located along the St. Lawrence River, has sat idle since 2014 when Alcoa shut it down due to high operating costs and global competition.

The appeal lies in the site’s power, not the metal itself. Aluminum smelters are built to run around the clock, drawing large amounts of electricity through…