UK Power Grid Demand Balance using Bitcoin Mining as a Demand-Side Flexible Response

This Bitcoin Policy UK briefing paper looks at how the UK's electricity grid can cope with a growing share of renewable power, and identifies two problems. First, to meet its targets the UK needs to build more renewable capacity than average demand, but generators lose revenue whenever supply exceeds demand, and the paper cites a projected 72 TWh of annual oversupply by 2030. Second, wind and solar output is intermittent, so the grid needs more flexible demand, known as demand-side response.

The paper proposes Bitcoin mining as that flexible demand. It argues that mining facilities can be sized to buy surplus renewable power, can be switched off within milliseconds when other demand rises, and pay for themselves without government subsidy, giving renewable generators a buyer for energy that would otherwise be wasted or curtailed at cost. It points to large-scale use in the USA and Scandinavia and sets out three ownership models: private facilities shaped through grid access licensing, mining facilities owned by National Grid to give its system operator in-house demand-side response, and direct state investment through GB Energy. It estimates mining revenue of up to around £2 billion a year and says cheaper renewable energy could lower household bills.