CNBC visited a small group of Bitcoin miners “setting up shop on the site of an extinct volcano” near Kenya's Hell's Gate National Park.
Their mine “consists of a single 500-kilowatt mobile container that looks like a small residential trailer from the outside.” But what's even more interesting is that it's run by a startup called Gridless. (According to his website Gridless, the company designs, builds, and operates his Bitcoin mining site alongside small-scale renewable energy producers in rural Africa, where surplus energy is untapped.) Masu…”)
Backed by Jack Dorsey's block, Gridless uses a combination of solar power and stranded and wasted energy from nearby geothermal power plants to power its machines. It is one of six mines the company operates in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, powered by a combination of renewable resources and working towards the broader mission of securing and decentralizing the Bitcoin network. There will be…in early 2022, [the three Gridless co-founders] began brainstorming creative solutions to the disparity between generation and capacity and lack of access to electricity in Africa. They came up with the idea of mining Bitcoin. This could solve a big problem for renewable energy developers by distributing pent-up power to other parts of the continent.
In Africa, 43% of the population, or approximately 600 million people, lack access to electricity. Africa has an estimated 10 terawatts of solar capacity, 350 gigawatts of hydropower, and another 110 gigawatts of wind power. While some of this renewable energy is already being harnessed, much remains untapped due to the expense of building dedicated infrastructure to harness renewable energy. Despite having 60% of the world's highest solar resources, Africa has only 1% of the installed solar power capacity.
Introducing Bitcoin Miner.
Bitcoin has gotten a bad rap for the amount of energy it consumes, but it can also help unlock these trapped renewable power sources. Miners are essentially energy buyers, and coexistence with renewable energy creates economic incentives to enhance production. “Often, there is excess power, not only during the day but also at night, and no one is able to absorb that power,” says Hersman. He said the company's 50-kilowatt mining containers “can take in whatever extra you have throughout the day.” Demand from Bitcoin miners for these semi-stranded assets is making renewable energy in Africa economically viable, he said. Electricity suppliers make money by selling energy that would previously have been wasted, while energy plants sometimes reduce costs for their customers. At one of his gridless test sites in Kenya, a hydropower plant has reduced electricity costs from what he calls 35 cents per kilowatt-hour to 25 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Increased production capacity is also having a major impact on households. Gridless says its sites have powered 1,200 homes in Zambia, 1,800 homes in Malawi, and 5,000 homes in Kenya. The company's mines have also powered container cold storage warehouses for local farmers, electric bike battery charging stations and public WiFi points.
