Ethiopia cuts Bitcoin miners’ power by 77% amid hydropower shortage: Report
Bitcoin miners generated 35% of the state-owned power producer’s revenue last year, but declining reservoir inflows led the utility to prioritize households and manufacturers.
Ethiopia has reportedly reduced electricity delivered to Bitcoin miners to 23% of contracted levels as lower water inflows strain the country’s hydroelectric reservoirs.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that El Niño intensified dry conditions in the east African country, reducing water inflows into its reservoirs by 20%. Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) CEO Ashebir Balcha said the company cut power to miners to prioritize households and manufacturers.
Balcha said EEP initially reduced deliveries to 75% of contracted levels, easing to 50% and then 23%. The company will reassess conditions in October and could impose further reductions or even restrict electricity exports to neighboring countries, according to the report.