Kenya To Provide Geothermal Energy to Bitcoin Miners
June 3, 2022Quartz Africa reportedly announced that KenGen (Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC), Kenya’s main electricity supplier, intends to supply excess geothermal power to bitcoin mining companies.
Peketsa Mwangi, KenGen’s geothermal development director, noted in an interview that they have the space and the power is close, which helps with stability.”
Kenya is Africa’s leading producer of geothermal energy, delivering over 14,000 megawatts (MW) of power with only 863 MW of equipment. An estimated 10,000 MW of geothermal energy is static throughout the Rift Valley circuit alone.
“Miners interested in taking advantage of this offer have already approached KenGen to discuss it, and some have wanted to start with 20 MW and scale up later,” says Mwangi.
Given that there are currently no bitcoin mining operations in Africa, people interested in the offering are expected to be primarily from the United States or Europe.
Currently, renewable energy sources like hydro, wind, and geothermal account for more than 80% of KenGen’s electricity production. KenGen, on the other hand, does not openly publish its extra power capacity.
According to the article, KenGen noted that by providing clean energy, it intends to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions commonly linked with bitcoin mining.
However, because of its fear of fraud in the broader market, the Kenyan government has chosen a different approach to bitcoin and digital currency.
