What occurs when a rural African group generates extra electrical energy than it could use? Might Bitcoin mining flip unused hydropower right into a lifeline for native financial revival?
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Zengamina’s dimming imaginative and prescient finds a spark
Within the distant Ikelenge district of northwestern Zambia, a small hydroelectric plant has quietly been producing extra electrical energy than its surrounding villages may ever use.
Constructed within the early 2010s with $3 million in charitable funding, the 1-megawatt Zengamina facility was by no means supposed to generate revenue. Its goal was to energy a rural hospital, present electrical energy to houses and faculties, and help the foundations of native growth.
For years, nonetheless, a lot of that electrical energy went unused. With a inhabitants of round 15,000 and minimal industrial or industrial exercise, the group lacked the infrastructure to soak up the excess.
In consequence, greater than half of the plant’s output was routinely diverted—despatched again into the river, successfully wasted.
By 2022, the undertaking was going through mounting challenges. Deliberate expansions have been on maintain, income had slipped under breakeven, and the imaginative and prescient of broader power entry was fading. Then, a brand new companion arrived with an unconventional answer.
Gridless, a Nairobi-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining startup, deployed a cellular unit to the Zengamina website—basically a delivery container outfitted with 120 ASIC mining machines.
Linked on to the native mini-grid, the setup runs repeatedly, consuming extra energy that will in any other case go unused. In doing so, it converts stranded electrical energy right into a stream of Bitcoin.
At prevailing market charges, every machine generates roughly $5 per day, although returns fluctuate with the value of Bitcoin and mining issue. Gridless shares a portion of this income with the hydro plant, now contributing near a 3rd of Zengamina’s complete revenue.
This monetary increase has had sensible results. Electrical energy tariffs have dropped, new households have been linked, and the plant is now working nearer to its full capability—serving the group extra successfully than earlier than.
Nonetheless, a broader query stays: is that this a one-off success, or may this mannequin provide a scalable path for rural electrification in areas the place standard financial incentives are missing? Let’s dig in.
Gridless rigs provide a plug-and-play repair
Zengamina isn’t an remoted case. Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, small-scale power tasks typically run into the identical downside: loads of energy, not sufficient individuals to make use of it.
Mini-grids—usually constructed with donor funding or growth grants—incessantly function under capability, not as a result of they fail to generate electrical energy, however as a result of there’s no industrial base to soak up it.
In accordance with the African Minigrid Builders Affiliation, greater than 65% of those techniques stay commercially unviable, sustained by subsidies, carbon credit, or philanthropic capital.
Gridless is attempting to make that mannequin work with out exterior lifelines. The corporate has put in cellular Bitcoin mining items at six hydro websites throughout Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia—each chosen for its skill to provide clear power in areas the place demand is just too low to help the infrastructure by itself.
The mining rigs act as a type of monetary shock absorber: they function repeatedly, no matter when or how a lot electrical energy the area people consumes, and convert otherwise-wasted power into income from day one.
At Zengamina, the outcomes have been fast. With a secure offtaker in place, the plant has expanded protection, lowered tariffs, and prolonged service into new elements of the group.
Small companies—together with barbershops, kiosks, and web cafés—are staying open later. Web connectivity has improved. Electrical energy entry has gone from symbolic to useful.
Importantly, the association was by no means meant to be everlasting. Gridless views itself as a transitional participant. As family and industrial demand picks up, its function winds down.
Zengamina expects to hook up with Zambia’s nationwide grid throughout the subsequent yr, opening the door to raised pricing by means of utility partnerships. When that occurs, the mining rig might be eliminated, and Gridless will redeploy elsewhere.
The superb line between increase and burden
Gridless is now in search of capital to develop its personal small-scale hydroelectric tasks, with a deal with run-of-river techniques that don’t require dams and may function in distant, off-grid environments.
The corporate’s method is to combine Bitcoin mining from the outset—utilizing it as an preliminary income stream whereas native power demand steadily takes form.
Co-founder Janet Maingi describes this as a “consumer-driven, adaptive power mannequin,” one designed to start with mining however finally transition towards long-term group electrification.
There’s proof to recommend that the mannequin may scale. The Worldwide Renewable Vitality Company (IRENA) estimates that Africa holds over 300 gigawatts of untapped hydropower potential, a lot of it positioned in areas with restricted industrial exercise—areas usually ignored by conventional power buyers.
In such environments, Bitcoin miners may function early offtakers, monetizing energy infrastructure earlier than broader financial demand materializes.
Nevertheless, the idea just isn’t with out controversy. Some policymakers throughout the continent have expressed concern that mining may finally compete with native customers for electrical energy, particularly if Bitcoin costs surge and miners turn out to be extra aggressive in securing low-cost energy.
These considerations aren’t merely theoretical. In 2021, Kazakhstan skilled vital disruptions after a wave of miners arrived following China’s crypto ban. Nationwide electrical energy consumption rose sharply—by 7% in a couple of months—leading to blackouts, increased power costs, and, finally, authorities intervention.
Comparable points have emerged in elements of america. In New York and Texas, regulators have taken steps to restrict large-scale mining operations during times of excessive grid demand.
Even smaller services have encountered strain. In early 2024, Greenidge Era—a gas-powered mining plant in upstate New York—was briefly shut down throughout a chilly spell to unencumber capability for residential heating.
The incident prompted regulatory businesses to start drafting tips on when and the way miners ought to cut back exercise throughout power shortages.
Gridless maintains that its mannequin avoids these dangers. All of its operations are off-grid, powered by renewable sources, and developed in direct coordination with native communities.
The corporate additionally states that residential and industrial customers are at all times prioritized, and that mining is scaled again as native demand will increase.
Nonetheless, some observers be aware that market incentives can shift shortly. If Bitcoin costs rise dramatically—as some forecasts recommend—the monetary enchantment of mining may immediate even off-grid operators to favor crypto income over group provide.
With out clear regulation or clear agreements on energy utilization, the identical method that originally helps rural growth may turn out to be a supply of friction.
Can this mannequin scale?
The outcomes seen at Zengamina have begun to attract consideration past Zambia. As international scrutiny over Bitcoin’s power consumption grows, an growing variety of off-grid power tasks are exploring mining as a monetary stabilizer—notably in areas the place electrical energy is out there however stays underused.
Off-grid mining, as soon as thought-about area of interest or opportunistic, is gaining traction not just for its cleaner profile but in addition for its sensible benefits: it permits miners to sidestep regulatory constraints, keep away from peak-hour tariffs, and cut back publicity to political tensions tied to public grid infrastructure.
A number of real-world functions are rising. Within the Democratic Republic of Congo, a Bitcoin mining operation powered by Virunga Nationwide Park’s hydro plant helps to fund conservation efforts and help park operations.
In Ethiopia, the federal government has permitted electrical energy gross sales from the Grand Renaissance Dam to industrial mining corporations as a option to monetize extra capability and handle debt burdens.
Comparable exercise is underway in Paraguay and Suriname, the place hydroelectric technology continues to exceed home demand.
In such instances, the motivation construction is aligned. Vitality builders achieve a constant and fast income stream, whereas miners entry dependable, low-cost energy. These preparations usually require no subsidies and don’t rely on large-scale transmission infrastructure.
Nevertheless, these outcomes aren’t assured. They depend on clearly outlined agreements—making certain group entry is prioritized, revenue-sharing is clear, and provisions exist to exit mining operations when different makes use of for the power come up.
Gridless, as an example, plans to finish its Zengamina operation as soon as the plant connects to Zambia’s nationwide grid, as promoting electrical energy on to the utility is anticipated to supply higher long-term returns.
This phase-out is a core function of the Gridless mannequin. Mining serves as a short lived monetary mechanism—bridging the hole till native demand matures. The tools is transportable and designed to be redeployed elsewhere as soon as its goal is fulfilled.
What this means just isn’t that Bitcoin mining resolves deeper power challenges, however that beneath sure situations, it could function a transitional software—monetizing stranded or surplus energy that may in any other case go unused. It offers a option to activate infrastructure relatively than letting it sit idle.
With Bitcoin now buying and selling close to $88,000 and mining profitability going through tighter margins worldwide, extra corporations are turning to distant areas searching for low-cost, regulation-light power sources.
In areas with accessible capability however restricted funding, this mannequin may scale—quietly and pragmatically—if allowed the operational area to take action.
