European Utility Giant Says ‘No’ To Crypto Mining, Even With ‘Clean Energy’

Enel, one of Europe’s largest power utility companies, announced today, Feb. 1, that they would not be selling renewable energy to crypto mining company Envion.

In a brief statement to Reuters, the Italy-based company said that they had “no interest whatsoever in selling power” to a mining company:

“Enel has undertaken a clear path toward decarbonisation and sustainable development and sees the intensive use of energy dedicated to cryptocurrency mining as an unsustainable practice that does not fit with the business model it is pursuing.”

Enel had reportedly been in talks for a deal with the Swiss-based Envion AG, an off-grid mining company that claims to use decentralized, clean energy to power its mobile mining units, prior to today’s decision not to sell. Each Envion unit is installed inside of a shipping container and can be powered by a solar or wind farm anywhere in the world, eliminating a reliance on any one country’s infrastructure.

Almost 70 percent of the world’s cryptocurrency mining takes place not in Europe, but in China, due to the cheap electrical costs there. However, as China has recently been tightening up regulations on crypto trading in the country, banning ICOs and exchanges, there is concern that miners could face power restrictions in China.

As CT reported in December 2017, standard Bitcoin mining globally uses more power than most African countries. With crypto mining in China based on either the use of coal or hydroelectric power, companies have tried innovative ways to use more renewable forms of energy, like a Netherlands-based company that tried to harness human body heat for mining purposes.