Ethiopia Slashes Bitcoin Mining Power by 77% Amid Drought-Stricken Hydropower

Et Ethiopia has drastically cut back the power it supplies to Bitcoin mining operations due to a severe hydropower shortage. According to Bloomberg, electricity deliveries have been reduced to just 23% of contracted levels, down from 100%. This is because drought conditions tied to El Niño have led to a 20% drop in reservoir inflows.

The Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) chief executive, Ashebir Balcha, explained that the utility prioritizes households and industrial customers when hydropower availability falls. EEP initially cut deliveries to 75%, then lowered them further to 50%, before finally reducing power to miners to 23% of contracted levels.

The decision highlights how mining operations are vulnerable to hydrology, as they rely on affordable and flexible electricity sourced from hydropower. Miners accounted for 35% of EEP's revenue in the last fiscal year and consume almost one-third of Ethiopia's electricity output.