• Marathon Digital has partnered with Kenya to harness underused energy across the country for Bitcoin mining.
• The deal will see over $80 million invested in projects aimed at boosting renewable energy utilization and optimization. 

Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital has signed a major deal with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum of Kenya.

Sealed today, May 24, 2024, the agreement provides for partnership that will see the BTC miner harness the country’s underutilized energy for its mining operations.

Marathon to tap into Kenya’s underutilized renewable energy

Marathon struck the deal during Kenya’s President William Ruto’s State Visit to the US.

According to the company, the agreement will see more than $80 million invested in “green data centers to boost renewable energy utilization and optimization in the Republic of Kenya.”

“This agreement with the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum is a pivotal moment for our business as it provides us with a clear framework to pursue opportunities across the Republic of Kenya,” Fred Thiel, Marathon’s chairman and CEO, said in a press release.

The company will work with the Kenyan government and other stakeholders to support initiatives aimed at optimizing energy usage across the country as well as development of key technological infrastructure, Thiel added.

Today’s agreement follows an earlier consultation between Marathon and Kenya, with this deal set to boost the country’s renewable energy sector.

MOEP and Marathon are set to “exchange policy, scientific, and technical information, as well as project investment expertise, to better understand how to optimize renewable energy projects that produce surplus energy due to intermittency and seasonal variations,” the company said in the press release.

Recent data showed that Kenya’s renewable energy sources accounted for over 80% of the country’s electricity generation. Of these renewable or clean energy sources, geothermal is the largest.

But although its estimated potential is 10,000MW, it is largely unexploited. Installed capacity was about 860MW in 2022.