Hydro-Quebec Says it Won’t Be Able to Meet the Energy Needs for Cryptocurrency Industry

Hydro-Quebec, the largest state-owned electricity producer in Canada has reversed its earlier promise of 5,000 megawatt power it intended to set aside just for Cryptocurrency miners.

The energy giant had previously embarked on a campaign to get Cryptocurrency miners to relocate to the province with promises of cheaper energy rates. However, it took just a week for the company to reverse course citing its inability to meet the high demands for electricity that the Cryptocurrency mining sector requires.

In a statement released to the media on behalf of Hydro-Quebec, company spokesman Marc-Antoine Pouliot said:

“We won’t be able to power all the projects that we’re receiving. We are receiving dozens of demands each day. This context is prompting us to clearly define our strategy.”

According to energy experts, the global Bitcoin network alone consumes 23 TWh (Tera Watt hours) in a year-about the same levels of electricity consumption in Denmark with its 5.7 million inhabitants. Experts believe that each Bitcoin transaction consumes up to 250 KWh (kilo watt hour), the energy needs of an average household for an entire nine day period!

Industry experts believe that by 2020 if Bitcoin continues its current exponential growth levels, it will consume as much electricity as the entire world consumes today.

Over the past several years, China has accounted for the largest volume of Cryptocurrency transactions. However, due to the Chinese government’s ban on Cryptocurrencies in September, Hydro-Quebec was hoping to help position the province as the new hub for Cryptocurrency miners.

The world’s largest Cryptocurrency mining company Bitmain has announced at the beginning of the year that it was in discussion with Hydro-Quebec for the possibility of having a presence there. A company spokesman told Coingape that it was looking for a parcel of land to house its operations.

However, the high levels of interest in the province from Cryptocurrency mining companies from across the world as a result of Hydro-Quebec’s promise of cheap and uninterrupted electricity seemed to have garnered such a huge response that the power generating executives never anticipated.

The Cryptocurrency industry is now waiting to see where the next hub for Cryptocurrency miners will be located.