Crypto miners are ‘always on‘ in search of renewable energy

<p>Bitcoin miners claim they can provide the stability required by the Australian power grid by absorbing excess supply as more volatile renewable energy replaces more stable coal-generated power in the local energy mix.</p> <p>As policymakers gather in Glasgow to address the escalating climate crisis, bitcoin miners point to their high energy consumption and ability to switch on and off quickly as a way for authorities to provide power reliability to communities in real time as the global energy mix shifts.</p> <p>"To date, coal has been seen as a reliable power source, which is a challenge that renewable energy faces," said Cam Nelson, CEO of DAME, an emerging cryptocurrency miner.</p> <p>"However, a really powerful way to increase renewable resilience in the grid is to build up oversupply, which bitcoin miners can use when the communities don't need it."</p> <p>As it stands, most energy producers, whether through solar, hydro, coal, or natural gas, are carefully balancing how much power they produce, aware that much of it is sold for next to nothing during times such as the middle of the night or is completely lost to the ground.</p> <p>Bitcoin miners are positioning themselves as buyers of that excess power, claiming that they can turn off their operations when the community's needs are greater, such as when the wind isn't blowing or there is some other energy disruption, and feed their large load back into the grid.</p> <p>"Other large energy consumers, such as Rio Tinto or BHP, cannot simply shut down their operations if the needs of the communities outnumber theirs, but bitcoin miners can, giving energy producers a way to ensure their power is always going somewhere and smoothing the pricing," Mr Nelson explained.</p> <p>Energy concerns resurfaced this week as cryptocurrencies took two significant steps towards mainstream acceptance. The Commonwealth Bank announced plans to offer customers ten crypto investment options, and investors poured more than $40 million into the first crypto-exposed exchang