Leveraging Bitcoin Miners as Flexible Load Resources for Power System Stability and Efficiency

Abstract

This review examines the role of Bitcoin mining as a possible catalyst for accelerating the global shift towards clean energy and effective power grid management. Amidst the evolving landscape of energy systems and grid operations, demand response and flexible load resources are becoming crucially important. We focus on the emergence of Bitcoin mining as an important feature for industrial-scale demand response, making use of miners’ inherent characteristics of interruptibility and swift response to enhance grid flexibility. Bitcoin mining can also directly utilize stranded energy resources, suggesting it is a novel technology for improving grid efficiency and facilitating rapid growth in renewable energy production. By leveraging their unique attributes, Bitcoin miners demonstrate how they might contribute to the coming energy transition, highlighting the potency of cross-cutting financial and technological innovation in shaping a sustainable and interconnected energy framework.

Keywords: Bitcoin, controllable load, demand response, electricity demand, energy transition, ERCOT, grid resources

JEL Classification: O30,Q40