Ethiopia Cuts Power to Crypto Miners Amid Hydropower Crisis

Authorities in Ethiopia have significantly reduced power allocation to Bitcoin miners by 75% due to a drastic drop in hydropower inflows. The move comes as water levels across key dams powering the national grid fell by 20%, leading to a decrease in total hydropower generation.

The reduction affects nearly one third of the country's total electricity output, which is approximately 9,730 megawatts. Prior to this change, cryptocurrency mining operations consumed significant amounts of energy, with each Bitcoin token requiring around 6.4 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power.

This amount of energy equals the annual electricity usage of about 14,950 domestic households. The reallocation of available megawattage is now prioritizing civilian residential demand and local businesses over industrial crypto facilities.