Ethiopia Cuts Bitcoin Miners' Power to 23% of Contracted Levels — SkimNews
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- Ethiopian Electric Power cut electricity deliveries to Bitcoin miners in stages — from 75% to 50% to 23% of contracted levels — after El Niño intensified dry conditions and reduced reservoir inflows by 20%, according to CEO Ashebir Balcha.
- EEP said it will reassess conditions in October and could impose further reductions or restrict electricity exports to neighboring countries if the hydropower shortage persists.
- Bitcoin miners generated 35% of EEP's revenue last fiscal year and consume nearly one-third of Ethiopia's electricity output, making the cuts a significant hit to a key revenue stream.
- Phoenix Group expanded its Ethiopian mining capacity to 132 megawatts in April 2025, among international miners drawn by Ethiopia's inexpensive hydropower.
- Economist Saifedean Ammous said global Bitcoin mining electricity consumption and capital expenditure may have peaked in 2024-2025, noting miners would need Bitcoin's price to rise more than 18.92% annually just to keep the dollar value of newly mined coins growing.
- Bitcoin's price is down more than 35% over the last 12 months, compounding mining-economics pressure, while public miners could need roughly $50 billion to develop planned AI infrastructure per VanEck data cited by Miner Weekly.
Why it matters: Miners generated 35% of EEP's revenue last year and consume nearly a third of Ethiopia's electricity — now they've been cut to 23% of contracted power with the possibility of further reductions or export restrictions. That tightens the economics for an industry Ammous argues may have already peaked, accelerating the shift toward AI data centers that can monetize the same power infrastructure.
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