Bitcoin fever and cryptomoney has turned Iceland into a paradise for miners. However, this is on its way to becoming a problem for the national energy industry. According to an electricity company in 2018, miners will consume more energy than all residents of Iceland.
Iceland is a country of just under 340,000 inhabitants, and all electricity used in the country is renewable. According to Johann Snorri Sigurbergsson, one of the directors of the electric power company HS Orka (formerly part of Hitaveita Sudurnesja), his company's calculations estimate that by 2018 the miners will consume about 100 megawatts.
Residential energy consumption in Iceland is just over 700 Gigawatt-hours per year, but the mining industry of cryptodivisas such as Bitcoin is close to surpassing it (estimated to exceed 800 Gigawatt-hours in the coming months), which could lead to an energy crisis in the country. In statements to AP, Sigurbergsson commented:
Four months ago I could not have imagined that we would reach this trend, but in that time the price of Bitcoin soared and we received many more requests. Just hours ago I met with a mining company that wants to buy 18 megawatts.
Sigurbergsson also told the BBC that if all these new mining company projects are carried out, the country will not have energy to supply them.
Bitcoin's price has plummeted during the month of January, but this has not prevented more and more companies from betting heavily on cryptomoney mining, although the Icelandic authorities are considering taking some measures against this increasingly popular industry. [AP / BBC via ArsTechnica]