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 mission.
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 crops for mapped industrial use, Tasselsiak (website 07.e) and Tarsaltuap Tasselsua (website 06.g).
Collectively, the 2 websites will be capable to generate greater than 9,500 gigawatt hours of electrical energy yearly.
Mining calculations are simple.
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.
| Facility output (MW) | Hashrate restrict (EH/s) @ 17.5 J/TH, PUE 1.1 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 0.26 |
| twenty 5 | 1.30 |
| 50 | 2.60 |
| 100 | 5.19 |
Greenland’s put in base is way smaller than the bid’s ambitions.
Nukissiorfiit’s annual report reviews that the corporate’s whole system hydropower capability is roughly 91.3 MW, with a mean 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 business.
Massive constructions subsequently depend on industrial energy buy agreements or new-generation behind-the-meter provides, moderately than buying energy like common prospects.
The shortage of a nationwide energy grid narrows the trail to scale.
In accordance with Trapp Greenland, energy crops usually serve cities and settlements as native techniques with restricted interconnections.
This pushes the sooner idea of “stranded” or surplus vitality in direction of coexisting versatile hundreds in a given plant.
In accordance with Greenland Evaluate, Greenland’s report discusses the usage of surplus vitality with a view to lowering vitality prices.
When you can mixture 5 to 25 megawatts behind the meter close to your present generator, the higher restrict could 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 adequate for pilots, however not sufficient to drive international community share.
The following tier is Nuuk’s essential hydroelectric energy station.
Increasing Bitcoin mining in Greenland: From surplus energy testing to grid-level growth
Buxefjord is deliberate to increase from 45 MW to 121 MW, with building beginning in 2026 and commissioning focused for 2032, Nunagreen stated.
The European Funding Financial institution’s mission pipeline refers back to the building of roughly 76 MW of Buxefjord-3, positioned near an present 45 MW energy plant.
If an output of fifty to 121 MW is contracted to the miner, {the electrical} cap could 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 progress and electrification plans.
Two bids put Greenland within the dialogue for gigawatts.
Greater than 9,500 GWh per yr equates to roughly 1.08 gigawatts of common energy when totally utilized.
Which means 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 website estimates Bitcoin’s hash price to be round 1.03 to 1.17 zetahashes per second (ZH/s), and minerstat’s issue degree is near 148 trillion.
On this baseline, a completely utilized 1.08 GW mine would symbolize roughly 4-6% of in the present day’s community hash price, a share that shrinks as the worldwide hash price grows.
May capital related to President Trump look to Greenland’s surplus vitality to increase 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).
Which means if the offtake is devoted to mining and transmission and building schedules are clear, the 1.08 GW of bid gear may doubtlessly energy a Bitcoin-sized fleet in america a number of occasions if totally utilized.
Even in a “what if” sovereignty situation, the constraints stay real looking.
Industrial hydropower requires multi-year building, vital logistics, and long-term water withdrawals, and mines require resilient information hyperlinks, spare elements, 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 shouldn’t be resolved.
Clear, secure megawatts additionally face competitors from different hundreds.
The Worldwide Power Company has warned that AI may improve demand for electrical energy from information facilities, elevating the chance price of dedicating long-term renewable vitality output to mining.
Diplomacy will form funding circumstances based mostly on the “Trump Greenland Mine” argument.
In accordance with Reuters, European officers careworn that Greenland’s standing is predicated 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 vitality financial system and geopolitics matter for large-scale Bitcoin mining
Nonetheless, if Greenland had been to return underneath US jurisdiction and be handled as an vitality enhancement zone moderately than a small, fragmented energy market, the renewable vitality cap necessary for mining would shift from 1GW-class hydropower tenders to a give attention to wind as nicely.
In accordance with a techniques examine printed in vitality 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 yr, assuming 20% of Greenland’s ice-free space is out there.
This corresponds to a mean energy era of roughly 170 GW on an vitality foundation.
Manufacturing volumes fluctuate, requiring transmission, overbuilding, discount, storage, and fixing to accommodate massive hundreds 24/7.
Changing this energy-only cap to hashrate exhibits 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 in a position to take up 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 in the present day’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 shouldn’t be a “24/7 secure baseload” except you add massive sends, overbuilds, reductions, storage/fixing (or settle for downtime/fluctuating operations). It is a ceiling based mostly on common wind vitality absorption, moderately than offering assured energy each hour.
But, a tough linear extrapolation of the identical examine’s land availability assumptions from 20% to 100% would suggest roughly 7,435 TWh (common roughly 848 GW) per yr, or roughly 34.8 to 51.7 ZH/s.
It is a cap based mostly on physics and mapping, not a building plan that takes under consideration siting, allowing, ports, roads, and HVDC necessities.
In accordance with IRENA, the worldwide common put in price for brand spanking 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 could 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 comparable to transportation, customs/VAT, spares, racks/PSUs/networks, buildings, cooling/hydro loops, commissioning, and many others., which might run into the tens of thousands and thousands of models.
All instructed, an funding of about $427 billion would give the Greenland-based miner sufficient renewable energy-derived hashing energy to regulate 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 in the present day’s community hash price (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 vitality in Greenland to energy the Bitcoin community many occasions over. With Starlink, you possibly can most likely construct a serious AI information middle as nicely.
