Definition
A simple cycle (or open cycle) is the most basic gas-turbine power configuration: air is compressed, mixed with fuel and combusted, and the expanding gas spins a turbine connected to a generator. The hot exhaust is vented straight to atmosphere rather than recovered. This keeps efficiency in the 33-43% range at maximum load, falling further at partial load, but it makes the plant cheap to build and very fast to start and stop.
Why operators still choose it
Simple-cycle units, often called peakers, exist because dispatch speed beats fuel efficiency in certain roles. They can reach full output in minutes, making them ideal for covering demand spikes or backstopping intermittent renewables. The trade-off is that a large fraction of the fuel's energy leaves as wasted exhaust heat, exactly the energy that a combined-cycle plant would recapture.
Why miners care
Behind-the-meter Bitcoin mining frequently sits next to simple-cycle gensets, flare-gas units, or curtailed renewable capacity precisely because that energy is otherwise underused or wasted. A simple-cycle source signals cheap, opportunistic power rather than efficient baseload, which shapes the economics of a deal. The vented exhaust also represents a heat-reuse opportunity: capturing it for greenhouses, drying, or district loads turns a thermodynamic loss into a second revenue stream, the core idea behind a Hashcenter.
Contrast the efficiency-maximizing two-stage approach at Combined Cycle, and see how exhaust energy is monetized in District Heating.
In Simple Terms
A simple cycle (or open cycle) is the most basic gas-turbine power configuration: air is compressed, mixed with fuel and combusted, and the expanding gas…