- Kenya’s electricity production firm KenGen will sell excess power to bitcoin mining activities.
- The decision came after crypto miners reached out to the company.
- These miners are from the US and Europe.
Kenya’s electricity production company KenGen has announced its intention to sell surplus geothermal power to bitcoin mining firms.
According to an article by Quartz, the decision came after KenGen received numerous purchasing requests from bitcoin miners. The company did not specify which bitcoin mining firms, although some suggest that the crypto mining firms are based in the US and Europe.
KenGen will be encouraging bitcoin miners to set up their rigs in an energy park at the Kenyan electricity producer’s main geothermal power station. This is located in Olkaria, Naivasha, some 120 km from the country’s capital Nairobi.
Once this happens, bitcoin miners will be able to reduce their carbon footprint, since geothermal power is clean and renewable.
Kenya is also the leading geothermal energy producer in all of Africa, boasting a potential of 10,000 megawatts (MW). This potential has not been fully realized, as the country only records up to 863 MW at the moment. Furthermore, KenGen contributes the most out of the said figure.
Meanwhile, some estimate the total bitcoin mining energy consumption to reach 204.50 terawatt-hours per year. Moreover, annual carbon emissions can reach a staggering 22.9 million metric tons.
