A group of French lawmakers are preparing legislation preparing drafts to mine the use of surplus electricity from nuclear power plants
According to news outlet Lemond, the proposal will install mining hardware at a facility owned by the state’s Utility Electric Retail de France (EDF). This process utilizes the excess energy generated by these nuclear power plants.
France is the largest nuclear power producer in the European Union, according to Eurostat’s 2023 data. It accounted for 338,202 gigawatt hours, or more than half of the total production of the bloc in 27 countries. The heat generated by nuclear fission is used to generate electricity, but more than two-thirds of that have been lost, the Statistical Agency said.
“It’s a safe and highly profitable solution,” said Aurélien Lopez-Liguori, a member of parliament involved in drafting the bill. The draft is still in its early stages, following previously rejected revisions since June, suggesting to evaluate crypto mining’s contribution to the French energy mix.
Tapping over surplus energy to mine Bitcoin is not a new concept. In May, Pakistan used a coal-fired power plant running at 15% capacity to mine 2,000 megawatts of electricity, mining Bitcoin and powering artificial intelligence data centres.
Similarly, the leading Stablecoin Issuer Tether is investigating BTC mining using surplus renewable energy from South American agribusiness company Adecoagro. Tether owns a 70% stake in Adecoagro.