Can Bitcoin Mining Unlock Stranded Energy?
Africa has some of the world’s richest renewable energy resources, yet hundreds of millions of its people remain without electricity. Meanwhile, energy producers in remote communities struggle to find customers, power infrastructure sits underutilised and Nigeria continues to burn natural gas that could otherwise generate economic value.
What if part of the solution was already emerging from an unexpected industry?
Bitcoin Mining.
During an Africa Bitcoin Conference Twitter/X Space titled Can Bitcoin Turn Africa’s Unused Energy into Economic Value?, three industry professionals presented a different way of thinking about Bitcoin’s relationship with energy. Rather than treating mining exclusively as an energy-consuming activity, they explored its potential as an economic customer for otherwise stranded, wasted or underutilised electricity.
The discussion featured Eric from Gridless, Elliot David, Head of Climate Strategy at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol (SBP), and Jeremiah, a Nigerian nuclear engineer working on energy offtake opportunities through Soltune. Hosted by Paul, the conversation challenged conventional assumptions about African electrification, infrastructure investment and the economics of Bitcoin mining.
Their central argument was provocative: Africa might not always need to generate more energy before it can create more value from the energy it already has
The problem isn't always generation. Sometimes, it's demand.
According to the International Energy Agency’s 2025 report, Financing Electricity Access in Africa, approximately 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lacked electricity access in 2024. Financing remains a major obstacle, with less than US$2.5 billion annually directed towards electricity access in the region.
But the challenge is not simply about generating more electricity.
In some rural communities, renewable energy projects struggle because the surrounding population cannot initially consume enough electricity to make the infrastructure commercially viable.
Eric, representing Gridless, explained this problem through the company’s experience developing rural energy projects across Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.
When a developer establishes a mini-grid in an underserved community, electricity consumption often starts small. Households initially use electricity for basic needs such as lighting and charging mobile phones. Small businesses gradually increase consumption, but demand can take years to develop.
Describing how an energy installation costing approximately US$1 million could initially operate at only 20% capacity utilisation.
“When people build an energy site in rural Africa, there’s usually no large off-taker at first , just ordinary people and small businesses. Electricity is new, so people start with LED bulbs and phone charging. They’re not spending much on energy yet and it takes years for demand to grow. So if you build the site, capacity utilization might only be 20%.“
For investors, this creates a difficult proposition: substantial upfront capital expenditure with a relatively small and uncertain customer base.
Traditional energy infrastructure often requires an anchor tenant… a large, reliable electricity buyer capable of providing predictable revenue.
In remote African communities, however, finding an industrial customer willing to establish operations several hours away from a major road can be difficult.
This is where Bitcoin mining enters the equation.
Bitcoin miners: An unexpected customer for rural energy.
Eric explained that Gridless approaches energy producers with a proposition that differs from the conventional electricity purchasing model.
“So we go to these energy producers and say: We can come in with Bitcoin mining and help you get to 100% utilization. They ask how much we’ll pay. They’re usually charging 30–90 US cents per kWh because so few people are using the power. We say we won’t pay anything for the power — instead we’ll bring the container of miners, cover the operational costs, and split the Bitcoin revenue with them. They often push back and ask for a fixed rate like 7 cents. We say it’s either revenue share or you keep getting zero. Eventually they say okay, let’s talk. We train them on Bitcoin. By coming in we anchor the energy, make the project more stable, lower the effective price of electricity in the village, and allow the energy company to buy more smart meters and extend power further.”
The arrangement gives the energy developer an additional source of income while providing the mining operation with access to electricity.
The important distinction is that Bitcoin miners can operate as flexible electricity consumers. They can be located close to energy generation facilities, increase consumption when demand from households and businesses is low and reduce or suspend their operations when electricity is needed elsewhere.
Eric illustrated this model using Gridless’s first Kenyan site, a 500-kilowatt installation.
“On our first site in Kenya (500 kW), we came in with 300 kW of mining — almost 80% of the load and over 85% of their revenue in year one. .“
He also reported that the project subsequently connected more than 28,000 people and dozens of businesses, reducing mining’s share of the site’s electricity consumption to below 30%.
That progression is particularly important.
The argument is not necessarily that communities should consume less electricity so that Bitcoin miners can consume more. Rather, mining can provide early demand that helps an energy project survive until local consumption grows.
In Eric’s words:
“Until Bitcoin came along, there was no good geographically agnostic buyer of last resort — no anchor tenant that could be dropped anywhere. Bitcoin mining provides that large, flexible demand. The fact that it uses a lot of electricity is exactly why it’s so valuable for electrifying the continent.”
If replicated responsibly, this model could help reduce investment risk, improve infrastructure utilisation and accelerate the expansion of electricity access.
From Kenya to Malawi: Can mining strengthen local energy economies?
Gridless’s experience also illustrates how Bitcoin mining can introduce an additional financial dimension to energy infrastructure.
Eric described the company’s second site in Malawi, established in 2023. Beyond the electricity arrangement, he highlighted the financial risks associated with operating in markets exposed to currency instability.
“It was our second site, built in 2023. It’s a small site. Grant Gumbel is on the call — he comes from right next to where we mine. Malawians are some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. It’s a great place. But Malawi is landlocked, which creates extra issues with imports and currency controls. You can only hold a Malawi kwacha account — no USD accounts. One year in, the government devalued the currency by over 40% overnight. Everyone holding kwacha could suddenly buy 40% less. Those holding Bitcoin kept their value. The energy producer was being paid in kwacha by local users, but a large part of their revenue from us was in Bitcoin. ”
According to Eric, this provided the producer with another way to preserve and manage the value of its earnings, including the option to convert Bitcoin into local currency or other currencies when needed.
“That protected them. They could convert to kwacha at the new rate, hold it, or change it into USD or euros as needed.”
This is an important distinction: Bitcoin mining’s potential value to an energy producer may extend beyond selling electricity. Depending on the commercial arrangement, it may also introduce an alternative revenue stream and a different way of managing financial exposure.
However, Bitcoin’s price volatility, conversion costs, custody arrangements and regulatory requirements remain real risks. The Malawi example should be understood as Eric’s account of one project’s experience, not a guarantee that Bitcoin will protect every energy business against currency depreciation.
Africa's renewable energy opportunity is still underdeveloped.
Elliot David brought a broader energy investment perspective to the conversation.
As Head of Climate Strategy at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, he said ,”We’re verifying about 25% of global Bitcoin mining, mostly large institutional and publicly traded miners. I’m also working on a new platform to deploy distributed energy and compute on the continent, using Bitcoin mining to drive electrification and energy access.”
His argument focused on the gap between Africa’s renewable energy potential and the infrastructure actually developed to capture it.
Africa possesses approximately 60% of the world’s best solar resources, yet solar photovoltaic technology accounts for only around 3% of the continent’s electricity generation, according to the Global Solar Council’s 2025–2028 Africa Market Outlook.
This mismatch presents an enormous investment opportunity.
Solar, hydropower, wind and geothermal resources are available across different African markets. Yet developing these resources requires capital, transmission infrastructure, reliable customers and commercially sustainable operating models.
Elliot argued that Bitcoin mining could become particularly relevant as the economics of the mining industry evolve.
Historically, large mining operations could remain profitable across a broader range of electricity prices. However, competition, hardware efficiency and the growing demand for artificial intelligence computing are changing the industry’s economics.
He suggested that Bitcoin mining could increasingly move towards smaller-scale operations situated near cheaper, stranded or wasted energy sources.
This is where Africa becomes particularly interesting.
Instead of competing for expensive electricity in established industrial centres, mining operations could potentially be deployed near renewable generation sites that lack sufficient demand or grid infrastructure.
Elliot also highlighted the declining costs of solar panels and battery storage as factors that could make distributed energy projects more attractive.
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s 2025 Digital Mining Industry Report estimated that sustainable energy sources accounted for 52.4% of surveyed Bitcoin mining electricity consumption, including 42.6% from renewables and 9.8% from nuclear energy. The report estimated Bitcoin mining’s annual electricity consumption at approximately 138 TWh.
These figures provide useful industry context, but they should not be interpreted as proof that every mining operation is powered by renewable energy. Nor do they establish that mining automatically improves electricity access.
The opportunity lies in matching mining demand with energy projects where its commercial contribution can be demonstrated.
Nigeria's wasted gas: Turning environmental liabilities into economic assets.
Perhaps the most distinctive argument of the discussion came from Jeremiah.
A Nigerian nuclear engineer, Jeremiah brought a different perspective to the Bitcoin-energy conversation, focusing on natural gas flaring and the possibility of converting wasted energy into productive infrastructure.
“Nigeria is one of the largest flares of associated gas. It has serious negative health effects on communities near the facilities. The Petroleum Industry Act (sections 104, 105, 108) creates a legal and commercial framework for monetizing flared gas. Instead of burning it, we can use it.”
The consequences extend beyond wasted economic value. Flaring contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and exposes surrounding communities to harmful environmental pollution.
The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker recorded 151 billion cubic metres of gas flared worldwide in 2024, releasing an estimated 389 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Nigeria was among the nine largest flaring countries.
Jeremiah pointed to Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act 2021, particularly Sections 104, 105 and 108, which establish penalties and requirements relating to gas flaring and the submission of gas-flare elimination and monetisation plans.
His argument was that Bitcoin mining and data centres could provide the electricity offtake needed to make certain gas-capture projects commercially attractive.
Rather than allowing associated gas to be burned without generating economic value, operators could capture it, use it to generate electricity and sell that electricity to nearby computing infrastructure.
For investors, the attraction is relatively straightforward: an identifiable customer creates a potential revenue stream.
Jeremiah explained that many infrastructure projects in Nigeria struggle because developers cannot demonstrate sufficiently quick and predictable financial returns. Banks, investors and policymakers want evidence that a project can generate revenue before committing substantial capital.
Mining could potentially provide that initial commercial demand.
He also described having overseen facilities in southern Nigeria where operational and security risks had been managed sufficiently to make the projects reasonably profitable.
His longer-term vision extended beyond mining. Revenue generated from monetising stranded gas could help support additional infrastructure investment, potentially including future advanced nuclear energy projects.
The distinction is important: Bitcoin mining would not eliminate gas flaring on its own. It would need to form part of a properly engineered gas-capture and power-generation project, with measurable environmental benefits.
Could Bitcoin mining help stabilise Nigeria's struggling electricity grid?
Jeremiah’s contribution went beyond gas flaring.
He also challenged the assumption that Nigeria’s electricity challenges are exclusively caused by insufficient generation.
During the discussion, he pointed to conversations with people at the Transmission Company of Nigeria and described how inadequate transmission infrastructure can prevent generating companies from fully dispatching the electricity they produce.
“I’ve spoken with people at the Transmission Company of Nigeria. One reason for collapses is that the grid isn’t strong enough. Generating companies sometimes can’t fully dispatch what they produce. Excess power gets dumped or stresses the grid until breakers trip. There is stranded / undispatched energy.”
When excess electricity cannot be transmitted or absorbed, generation may be curtailed, or grid conditions can deteriorate.
He argued that Bitcoin mining could act as a flexible electricity consumer, absorbing some of this otherwise stranded or undispatched energy.
“Bitcoin mining is a flexible, energy-intensive load that can mop that up — either near the generating plants or at points where excess is sensed. It can help balance the grid while also being profitable.”
This is an interesting application of mining infrastructure.
Unlike many industrial facilities, Bitcoin mining operations can adjust their electricity consumption relatively quickly. They can reduce demand during periods of grid stress and increase it when excess electricity is available.
In principle, this creates an opportunity for mining operations to participate in demand response and improve the economics of electricity generation.
However, the distinction between consuming surplus electricity and stabilising an entire national grid is significant. Effective grid balancing requires appropriate control systems, coordination with grid operators, technical compliance and reliable measurement of available excess capacity.
Bitcoin mining cannot compensate for inadequate transmission infrastructure, poor grid management or insufficient investment in electricity distribution.
It could, however, become one component of a broader electricity-market solution.