A surplus of renewable energy in Brazil—mainly wind and solar—has made the country a hotspot for cryptocurrency miners. Because transmission lines cannot carry all the electricity produced, some plants are forced to waste as much as 70% of their output. This imbalance is now drawing miners who see an opportunity to tap low-cost, underutilized clean power.
At least six international firms, including Tether, Kazakhstan-based Enegix, and China’s Bitmain, are in talks with Brazilian energy producers to establish large-scale mining sites. Among the biggest planned projects is a US$200 million, 100-megawatt facility in Bahia led by Renova Energia, powered entirely by wind. Energy companies argue that miners could provide much-needed demand, with some reporting nearly US$1 billion in lost revenue over the past two years from wasted renewable generation. More