Kenyan energy company KenGen has released a phone call to Bitcoin miners to maneuver nearby and purchase its excess renewable energy capacity.
KenGen claims 86% of their energy is produced by renewable sources, mostly geothermal power from pockets of ground source heat within the Great Rift Valley. Local news outlet The Conventional reported that KenGen has space at its new industrial park in Olkaria, near its flagship geothermal power power station, that could be rented to Bitcoin (BTC) miners.
The Acting Director of geothermal power development at KenGen Peketsa Mwangi stated that his company was willing willing and able to achieve the miners call Kenya home.
“We’ll ask them to here because we’ve the area and also the power is near, which will help with stability.”
Despite his enthusiasm, there have yet to be any reports of miners searching to visit Kenya.
Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) claim that the eastern African nation presently houses no known Bitcoin mining operations, however it seems to become well suited for miners because of the region’s believed potential 10,000 MegaWatt (MW) of geothermal power energy capacity.
KenGen is presently running in a maximum generating capacity of 863 MW after installing another geothermal power power plant in April according to Kenyan financial news outlet Capital FM.
By inviting miners towards the country, KenGen might be able to accomplish several goals at the same time. It may increase miners’ ecological sustainability, that has belong to great scrutiny around the world. Mining consumes 119.5 TerraWatt hrs (TWh) each year, greater than the whole country from the Netherlands, based on CBECI. Only 31 countries consume more energy.
This may also drive interest in more rise in KenGen’s power company to improve total supply and lower cost. Kenya presently has got the twelfth most costly electricity on the planet where one kilowatt hour (KWh) costs about $.22 based on Statista.
The cost of electricity in the united states are closely related to the electrification rate. By 2020, only around 70% of people had accessibility centralized grid based on the WorldBank. Energy grid tracker Energypedia states that Kenya’s expensive to connect with the grid poses a “major obstacle” to the expansion.
The Kenyan government may also enjoy greater revenue through charges from miners as well as taxes. The Kazakhstan government, for instance, is poised to earn around $1.5 billion in revenue from miners within the next 5 years (even though it only raked in $1.5 million in Q1 2022).
Related: Bitcoin daily mining revenue slumped in May to eleven-month low
Kenya enjoys an especially high rate of crypto adoption from the amount of peer-to-peer transactions.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) continues to be exploring its options having a central bank digital currency since this past year. CBK mentioned lower charges and faster transfer rates as advantages of employing a CBDC in Feb.
