Discuss of the US shopping for Greenland is returning to Washington, and miners are pursuing energy initiatives on the island.
In accordance with Reuters, the White Home stated the US buy of Greenland was “actively mentioned.”
A extra sensible look ahead to Bitcoin miners is Greenland’s industrial energy venture.
How Greenland’s hydropower interprets into precise Bitcoin mining capability
In accordance with Naalakkersuuisut.gl, the Authorities of Greenland has introduced that it plans to open a public tender within the second half of 2026 for the 2 largest hydropower vegetation for mapped industrial use, Tasselsiak (web site 07.e) and Tarsaltuap Tasselsua (web site 06.g).
Collectively, the 2 websites will have the ability to generate greater than 9,500 gigawatt hours of electrical energy yearly.
Mining calculations are straightforward.
In accordance with Bitmain, Bitmain’s Antminer S21 specs checklist 200 TH/s at 3,500 watts, or roughly 17.5 joules per terahash.
Utilizing a deliberate energy effectivity worth (cooling and overhead) near 1.1, 1 megawatt of facility energy is equal to roughly 0.052 exahash/second (EH/s) at 17.5 J/TH.
This implies roughly 0.041 to 0.061 EH/s throughout the 15 to 22 J/TH effectivity band.
Greenland’s put in base is far smaller than the bid’s ambitions.
Nukissiorfiit’s annual report experiences that the corporate’s whole system hydropower capability is roughly 91.3 MW, with a median electrical energy gross sales worth of roughly DKK 1.81 per kilowatt hour in 2024.
Retail-style pricing at that degree clearly doesn’t correspond to the economics of the mining trade.
Massive constructions due to this fact depend on industrial energy buy agreements or new-generation behind-the-meter provides, fairly than buying energy like common clients.
The dearth of a nationwide energy grid narrows the trail to scale.
In accordance with Trapp Greenland, energy vegetation sometimes serve cities and settlements as native programs with restricted interconnections.
This pushes the sooner idea of “stranded” or surplus power in the direction of coexisting versatile hundreds in a given plant.
In accordance with Greenland Evaluate, Greenland’s report discusses using surplus power with a view to lowering power prices.
For those who can mixture 5 to 25 megawatts behind the meter close to your current generator, the higher restrict can be roughly 0.21 to 1.52 EH/s throughout the 15 to 22 J/TH band (roughly 0.26 to 1.30 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
That is ok for pilots, however not sufficient to drive international community share.
The following tier is Nuuk’s most important hydroelectric energy station.
Increasing Bitcoin mining in Greenland: From surplus energy testing to grid-level enlargement
Buxefjord is deliberate to broaden from 45 MW to 121 MW, with development beginning in 2026 and commissioning focused for 2032, Nunagreen stated.
The European Funding Financial institution’s venture pipeline refers back to the development of roughly 76 MW of Buxefjord-3, situated near an current 45 MW energy plant.
If an output of fifty to 121 MW is contracted to the miner, {the electrical} cap can be roughly 2.07 to 7.33 EH/s throughout the 15 to 22 J/TH band (roughly 2.6 to six.3 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
This assumes that these megawatts usually are not absorbed by Nuuk’s demand development and electrification plans.
Two bids put Greenland within the dialogue for gigawatts.
Greater than 9,500 GWh per 12 months equates to roughly 1.08 gigawatts of common energy when absolutely utilized.
Because of this the power-limited hashrate is capped at roughly 44.8-65.7 EH/s throughout the 15-22 J/TH band (roughly 56.0 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
In accordance with minerstat, the monitoring web site estimates Bitcoin’s hash charge to be round 1.03 to 1.17 zetahashes per second (ZH/s), and minerstat’s problem degree is near 148 trillion.
On this baseline, a completely utilized 1.08 GW mine would symbolize roughly 4-6% of as we speak’s community hash charge, a share that shrinks as the worldwide hash charge grows.
May capital related to President Trump look to Greenland’s surplus power to broaden Bitcoin mining?
Mining capitals linked to President Trump have already been shaped, which is why Greenland’s energy calendar is attracting consideration throughout the sector.
Hut 8 partnered with Eric Trump to launch American Bitcoin, combining Hut 8’s mining operations with a bunch of buyers that included Donald Trump Jr., however Hut 8 retained an 80% stake.
In accordance with the corporate, American Bitcoin stated that as of September 1, 2025, the put in hashrate has expanded to roughly 24 EH/s and the fleet effectivity is roughly 16.4 J/TH.
Utilizing the identical PUE 1.1 deliberate worth, 24 EH/s means roughly 430 MW of facility energy at 16.4 J/TH (roughly 460 MW at 17.5 J/TH).
Because of this if the offtake is devoted to mining and transmission and development schedules are clear, the 1.08 GW of bid gear might probably energy a Bitcoin-sized fleet in the US a number of occasions if absolutely utilized.
Even in a “what if” sovereignty situation, the constraints stay lifelike.
Industrial hydropower requires multi-year development, vital logistics, and long-term water withdrawals, and mines require resilient knowledge hyperlinks, spare components, and the flexibility to import ASIC fleets.
Tasas stated Greenland Join connects Canada, Nuuk, Qakortok and Iceland with an undersea cable, however transmission to distant hydro basins isn’t resolved.
Clear, steady megawatts additionally face competitors from different hundreds.
The Worldwide Vitality Company has warned that AI might improve demand for electrical energy from knowledge facilities, elevating the chance price of dedicating long-term renewable power output to mining.
Diplomacy will form funding situations based mostly on the “Trump Greenland Mine” argument.
In accordance with Reuters, European officers pressured that Greenland’s standing relies on consent and sovereignty norms.
Greenland’s bidding spherical, scheduled for late 2026, will set the baseline for large-scale Bitcoin mining from new hydropower on the island.
Why Greenland’s power economic system and geopolitics matter for large-scale Bitcoin mining
Nonetheless, if Greenland had been to come back underneath US jurisdiction and be handled as an power enhancement zone fairly than a small, fragmented energy market, the renewable power cap vital for mining would shift from 1GW-class hydropower tenders to a deal with wind as effectively.
In accordance with a programs research printed in power The technical potential of Greenland’s onshore wind energy, as listed by ScienceDirect, is roughly 333 GW, which might generate roughly 1,487 TWh per 12 months, assuming 20% of Greenland’s ice-free space is out there.
This corresponds to a median energy era of roughly 170 GW on an power foundation.
Manufacturing volumes fluctuate, requiring transmission, overbuilding, discount, storage, and fixing to accommodate giant hundreds 24/7.
Changing this energy-only cap to hashrate reveals how far the “Trump Greenland Mine” narrative can theoretically be pushed.
At 15-22 J/TH with a PUE of round 1.1, if the miners had been capable of take in the typical output as a versatile load, the typical energy era of 170 GW would imply a hashing capability of round 7.0-10.4 ZH/s, which is considerably increased than as we speak’s networks.
With the present hashrate round 1 ZH/s, buying sufficient mining machines to facilitate such a construct would primarily be a theoretical train of potential forward-looking limitations.
Additionally, 10 ZH/s isn’t a “24/7 steady baseload” except you add giant sends, overbuilds, reductions, storage/fixing (or settle for downtime/fluctuating operations). It is a ceiling based mostly on common wind power absorption, fairly than offering assured energy each hour.
But, a tough linear extrapolation of the identical research’s land availability assumptions from 20% to 100% would indicate roughly 7,435 TWh (common roughly 848 GW) per 12 months, or roughly 34.8 to 51.7 ZH/s.
It is a cap based mostly on physics and mapping, not a development plan that takes under consideration siting, allowing, ports, roads, and HVDC necessities.
In accordance with IRENA, the worldwide common put in price for brand new onshore wind energy in 2023 was roughly $1,154 per kW.
This leaves 333 GW of generators alone value about $384 billion, excluding insurance coverage, transmission, and infrastructure within the Arctic.
OneMiners is itemizing the Antminer S21 XP Hyd at 473 TH/s for $6,799. To make the most of 333 GW, roughly 21,141,650 miners can be required, which might be roughly $143 billion.
Nonetheless, that is simply the price of buying the ASIC. This doesn’t embody all-important prices resembling transportation, customs/VAT, spares, racks/PSUs/networks, buildings, cooling/hydro loops, commissioning, and so on., which might run into the tens of tens of millions of items.
All instructed, an funding of about $427 billion would give the Greenland-based miner sufficient renewable energy-derived hashing energy to manage the $1.8 trillion Bitcoin community by greater than 10 occasions, assuming the {hardware} is out there (which it is not). Or about $55 billion equal to as we speak’s community hash charge (not merely 1/tenth, on account of scaling).
These are all “again of the envelope” numbers with many caveats and assumptions, however the actuality is that there’s sufficient unused power in Greenland to energy the Bitcoin community many occasions over. With Starlink, you possibly can most likely construct a significant AI knowledge heart as effectively.
