Gustavo Petro plans to transform the Colombian Caribbean into a Bitcoin mining hub using the region's surplus renewable energy. Learn more here.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro formally raised the possibility of turning the cities of Santa Marta, Riohacha, and Barranquilla into Bitcoin mining centers.
This initiative—seen by many as a strategic vision to boost the region's growth and by others as a senseless idea considering the current conditions—comes at a time of climate and economic tension, where the president is looking for alternatives to finance the energy transition without depending on fossil fuels.
Petro shared his perspective on cryptocurrency mining, citing a report on this activity in Paraguay and how other countries in the region, especially Venezuela, could leverage its energy potential to accelerate their economic growth.
The Colombian president identifies digital asset mining as a powerful tool to be able to to make the "locked-up energy" profitable which fails to integrate into immediate domestic consumption. From their perspective, a social ownership model could be implemented where the Wayúu indigenous community participates as a partner in the projects, transforming the perception of this activity from a speculative phenomenon to a digital energy export industry based on high-density technical infrastructure.
Trade Bitcoin todayBitcoin mining in the Colombian Caribbean
To understand the technical basis of Petro's proposal, it is necessary to analyze the concept of Stranded Energy or “locked-up energy”.
According to shared data According to Alessandro Cesere in the publication cited by Petro, countries like Paraguay and Venezuela are demonstrating that structural surpluses of hydroelectric energy, which cannot be transported to consumption centers due to grid limitations, find a use in Bitcoin mining. buyer of last resort.
In this sense, Paraguay currently contributes the 4,3% of the global hashratewhich is equivalent to approximately 43 EH/s, thanks to the use of dams like Itaipu. Petro seeks to replicate this logic in the Caribbean, where the intermittency of renewable energies often presents challenges to the stability of the national interconnected system.
From this perspective, cryptocurrency mining data centers operate as a "flexible load." This mechanism allows mining facilities to function like consumers that disconnect within minutes when household demand increases, and activate when there is an overproduction of wind or solar energy that would otherwise go to waste.
As a reference for success, companies like HIVE Digital—which operates 400 MW installed and 18,87 EH/s in Paraguay—and Penguin are already implementing this system. curtailment with high efficiency.
In Colombia, the implementation of this technology would allow the stabilization of the electrical grid of the coastal region, monetizing natural resources that currently lack sufficient transmission infrastructure to reach the interior of the country.
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However, the success of this ambitious plan is not without its obstacles, as the digital asset mining environment is going through a phase of technical sophistication that moves the sector away from simple arbitrage.
The report cited by the Colombian president highlights that in Paraguay, electricity rates for this industry have risen to between $0,05 and $0,06 per kWh, in addition to requirements for substantial security deposits. Despite these barriers, the expiration of key energy contracts in Paraguay in December 2027 creates an opportunity for institutional capital to seek new jurisdictions.
On the other hand, the viability of the plan in Colombia faces strong regional competition, especially after it became known that Venezuela has a surplus in the Lower Caroní of about 7.500 MW trapped due to a lack of transmission lines.
While opposition groups and government critics express skepticism about the use of state resources in volatile assets, the Executive insists that the key lies in a regulatory framework that attracts firms and a plan that allows indigenous communities to become co-owners of potential cryptocurrency mining projects.
For Petro, the success of an initiative like this lies not only in the technical connection of clean energy, but in the validation of a model where technological development coexists with the economic participation of local communities, preventing the benefit from being restricted exclusively to international private capital.
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