RE:Rip van Winkle awakens.. But then some others say about cryptocurrency mining--
A lot of wind and solar power is concentrated in remote parts of Texas. With no financial incentive, there's little reason to build out renewable infrastructure to harness this energy.
Enter bitcoin miners. When these energy buyers co-locate with renewables, it creates a financial incentive for buildout and improves the core economics of renewable power production, which has been fraught with volatility.
Miners provide demand to these semi-stranded assets and make renewables in Texas economically viable, according to Castle Island Venture's Nic Carter.
The constraint is that West Texas has roughly 34 gigawatts of power, five gigawatts of demand, and only 12 gigawatts of transmission. You can think of bitcoin miners as temporary buyers who keep the energy assets operational until the grid is able to fully absorb them.
Tesla, Block and Blockstream team up to mine bitcoin off solar power in Texas (msn.com)