France faces a familiar problem: it often makes more electricity than it can sell. According to energy researcher Raphaël Bloch, the country wasted about € 80 million worth of power in 2024.
Those reactors aren’t built to throttle down fast when demand dips. Mining farms could jump in, kick their computers on, and gobble up the surplus until the grid needs a breather again.
Bringing in miners could spark new jobs in areas that have faced decline. Plus, the heat from the machines wouldn’t go to waste. It could warm homes or feed local factories, cutting energy bills for nearby communities.
France lost €80M in 2024 due to… excess electricity.
It’s such a missed opportunity for Bitcoin mining.
The French grid operator is already warning about potential challenges in 2025.
This situation presents a compelling case for Bitcoin mining in France, for several key…
Critics warn that mining still uses a lot of power. Even though France’s grid is mostly low-carbon, it isn’t zero-carbon. Bringing in too many rigs might push authorities to keep aging reactors online longer or fire up backup gas plants during peak use.
That would chip away at the climate targets the amendment is meant to support. Parliament will have to set clear limits on mining capacity and tie operations to real power surpluses only.
Daniel Batten, a researcher in the field, says this kind of controllable demand could be exactly what grids around the world need to handle green but unpredictable sources like wind and solar.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
