Kenyan KenGen Offers Geothermal Power to Miners

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Largest in Kenyahydropower company KenGen intends to make its surplus geothermal energy available for cryptocurrency mining in a bid to make the country the center of the mining industry in Africa.

Acting Development DirectorKenGen Peketsa Mwangi said that the company is ready to provide miners with its facilities in the Rift Valley of Kenya, which can be used for mining cryptocurrencies. Mwangi said the company had already been contacted by companies in Europe and the United States about the matter. Some are already ready to start with 20 MW of power, gradually increasing the energy intensity of mining. If the initiative is implemented, Kenya will become the center of the mining industry on the African continent, the top manager of KenGen is sure.

“We are ready to place miners here becausethat we have territory and stable access to electricity,” Mwangi said, referring to the company’s main geothermal power plant in the city of Naivasha, about 76 km from the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Energy specialist assures that Kenya is leadinggeothermal energy producer in Africa, generating 863 MW of capacity, most of which comes from KenGen. The country can make good use of more than 10,000 MW of electricity in the Rift Valley region as most of the resources remain untapped.

According to January data Cambridgecenter of alternative finance, Libya is one of the few African countries where cryptocurrency mining is popular. But its share is only 0.14% of the total hashrate of the Bitcoin network. Egypt accounts for 0.02%, South Africa is in third place with 0.01%.

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Almost complete absence of miners in Kenyastands in stark contrast to the country's active adoption of digital assets. Despite the central bank warning citizens about the risks of investing in digital assets, Kenya has led the way in the number of cryptocurrency transactions in recent years. At the same time, the regulator is discussing with the public the risks and benefits of launching a digital Kenyan shilling.