Crypto miners flock to Brazil on major clean energy surplus

Crypto miners are looking to use Brazil’s clean energy surplus without putting a strain on the grid.

Crypto mining might solve a peculiar problem with renewable energy. Mining firms are negotiating contracts with Brazilian power companies, looking to exploit the oversupply of clean energy, according to a September 30 report by Reuters.

At least six crypto mining firms are now negotiating contracts to use a portion of Brazil’s abundant green energy for crypto mining. For instance, renewable energy supplier Renova is investing in a $200 million mining project in Brazil’s northeast. This project will feature six data centers powered by a wind farm.

“We aim to expand the company and enter new markets,” said Renova CEO Sergio Brasil. “We realized that by providing all the infrastructure (for crypto mining), we were one step ahead of our competitors.”

You might also like: Brazil to hold first hearing on a $19B sovereign Bitcoin reserve

Crypto mining works well with green energy

Brazil has made a big push in renewable energy. However, wind and solar energy have the disadvantage that their peak production often does not track demand. On the other hand, crypto miners can scale their operations at will, benefiting from cheap energy. At the same time, they can scale back when energy demand is high.

“There’s tons of potential,” said John Blount, co-founder of Enegix, a crypto miner based in Kazakhstan. “We will try somehow to elaborate mobile data centers,” he added, that would be plugged directly into power plants

Brazil’s oversupply of green energy comes from years of government subsidies in wind and solar power. However, in some areas, this has led to oversupply, and some energy facilities now waste 70% of the energy they generate.

Read more: Crypto rails: Powering the green grid | Opinion