Cryptocurrency mining is a contemporary and efficient mode to use excess free energy, Ukraine's Ministry of Energy argued in a May vi argument published on Facebook. According to the post, local nuclear plants have generated the surplus due to the COVID-xix lockdown.

The course toward digitalization

The agency is at present looking to utilize progressive solutions to avoid wasting energy equally function of the government'south form toward digitalization championed by president Volodymyr Zelensky. Leaving the situation unchanged might create "weather for abuse offenses, which will ultimately be paid at Ukrainian citizens' expense", the ministry warns.

Crypto mining, in turn, could prove to be one of the efficient solutions, the post continues:

"In that location is a way to transfer this 'liability' into an 'nugget'. I of the modern approaches for using excess electricity is to devote it to cryptocurrency mining. That would not but let to maintain the guaranteed load on the nuclear power plants, only also ensure that companies can attract extra funds. Therefore, it would open the manner to a fundamentally new economy, new approaches, a new market model."

Equally previously reported past a Russian-linguistic communication crypto news outlet Forklog on May 5, the acting caput of Ukraine'due south Ministry of Energy requested the state-owned enterprise Energoatom to study potential ways to implement cryptocurrency mining at the country'south nuclear energy generating facilities by May 8.

A potentially profitable operation?

Power plants have been used for cryptocurrency mining before, although not on a government calibration. Every bit reported by Cointelegraph in March, a privately-owned ability plant in New York'southward Finger Lakes region turned to Bitcoin (BTC) mining, adding near $50,000 worth of BTC each twenty-four hours to daily revenues.