Crypto Corner: Eskom could supply power to miners of another kind
Eskom – yes, the power utility with R400-billion in debt that could barely keep the lights on in 2023 – is considering letting computers do what users no longer want to do: pay for its electricity.
In 2024, South Africa experienced a 3% decline in electricity demand. Sounds bizarre in a country plagued by load shedding, right? But many households and businesses have been opting out of Eskom altogether and installing solar power.
Enter bitcoin mining, which is basically the process of validating bitcoin transactions by solving complex cryptographic puzzles.
It's ridiculously energy-hungry. The mining rigs – specialised machines using ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) –run 24/7 and guzzle electricity like a first-time Comrades runner at a water station.
This insatiable appetite for power is usually a problem. But for Eskom it could be a solution. Instead of letting unused electricity go to waste during off-peak periods, or as demand continues to decline, Eskom could divert it to bitcoin miners and get paid in the process. It's like the airline industry offering cheap last-minute seats to fill a flight – except instead of passengers, it's hash rates.
And Eskom isn't pulling the idea out of the air. France is already cooking with bitcoin.
French lawmakers are pushing a five-year plan to monetise excess electricity by building bitcoin mining infrastructure near nuclear and renewable power stations. By doing so, they hope to claw back up to R2.6-billion a year in lost revenue from surplus energy that would otherwise go unsold.
The French also point to side benefits: improved grid stability, protection of plant infrastructure from load modulation fatigue and, interestingly, repurposing the heat produced by mining rigs for things like agriculture and heating buildings.
This model has already worked in Iceland and Sweden. In these countries, bitcoin mining helps to use up excess geothermal or hydroelectric power while the waste heat warms greenhouses or nearby homes. Call it crypto climate control.
Unlike France, Eskom's problem isn't too much green power. Here it's a collapse in customer demand and mounting debt. But the principle is the same. By creating a high-demand, always-on customer base (bitcoin miners), Eskom could start monetising electricity it would otherwise waste.
And in a country where youth unemployment is a national crisis, imagine the economic knock-on effects of building bitcoin data centres in underused industrial zones. Old coal station towns could be reborn as crypto hubs, attracting local investment and creating jobs in electrical work, cooling tech, security, even logistics. DM
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