As ‘America’s volcano country,’ El Salvador is finding its place in the renewable energy industry and using its geothermal advantages. The country, active with volcanic features, has harnessed these forces to produce electricity, especially through geothermal power.

It is now profiting from it for new-age applications such as Bitcoin mining. This direct harnessing of volcanic energy is a new era in the country’s endeavor to improve its power and political sovereignty.

Geothermal energy is the backbone of El Salvador’s energy strategy

Geothermal energy production is central to El Salvador’s energy plan as it contributes much of its national energy mix. Currently, the country has more than twenty volcanoes, which are still active, making it easy for the country to tap heat from beneath the ground.

According to recent information, geothermal energy constitutes 25% of the total electricity in El Salvador – an excellent result for such a country. LaGeo, the country’s leading geothermal company, runs two extensive facilities that generate 204 MW from geothermal wells.

These plants contribute to supplying energy to homes and industries and cutting fossil fuel consumption to make El Salvador a clean energy hub in the region. El Salvador’s leadership remains within the country’s political domain and outside, where the country continues to spearhead the promotion of geothermal power across the Central America region.

El Salvador, as a member of the Central American Integration System (SICA), has promoted regional cooperation to support a robust technical community in renewable energy. This is evident, especially from the country’s focus on sustainability and innovation in hosting the next GEOLAC 2024, a geothermal conference for Latin America and the Caribbean region. In doing so, El Salvador is promoting its energy industry and contributing to the ongoing development of the region’s use of clean energy sources.

Bitcoin mining using geothermal energy: Is this a bold move or a risky venture?

Interestingly, El Salvador was the first country to use geothermal energy from volcanoes to mine Bitcoin. For the past 2021, the government has been siphoning 1.5MW from the Tecapa volcano geothermal plant, mining 474 Bitcoins worth $29 million.

This is a move that President Nayib Bukele undertook as part of his plan to make El Salvador one of the most critical countries in the world using cryptocurrency. But this has created controversy. While some believe it will offer a fresh approach to mining new Bitcoins with renewable energies, others fear that many large-scale mining projects threaten the environment.

Cryptocurrency mining using geothermal power is a valuable opportunity for El Salvador as the country has a growing need for cryptocurrencies and geothermal power sources. Though cryptocurrency mining is believed to consume a lot of power, El Salvador’s utilization of energy derived from the earth’s heat is more environmentally friendly than that generated through fossil fuels. This may open the way for other countries with rich geothermal potential to follow the same examples.

However, the effectiveness of this strategy depends on proper control of energy use so that the mining does not disrupt the stability of the power grid or overtax green energy sources.

A new era of renewable energy and cryptocurrency in El Salvador

Bitcoin mining in El Salvador has shown how volcanic nations can use geothermal energy, and hence, they can transform their natural resources into power sources. The country is proving that emerging economies can use natural resources to fund progressive projects in addition to conventional energy solutions and cryptocurrencies such as cryptocurrency mining.

While El Salvador is already advancing its geothermal capability, the world will be interested in knowing how its volcanic energy will be utilized to advance the frontiers in renewable energy and the digital age.