Trump could use Greenland for 10,000 EH/s Bitcoin mining hub from stranded energy if it becomes a part of the US
Talk of the United States shopping for Greenland has returned to Washington, and miners are monitoring the energy tasks on the island.
The White House mentioned a U.S. buy of Greenland is an “energetic dialogue,” in accordance with Reuters.
For Bitcoin miners, the extra actionable clock is Greenland’s industrial energy planning.
How Greenland’s hydropower interprets into actual Bitcoin mining capability
Greenland’s authorities mentioned it plans to open a public tender spherical in the second half of 2026 for the two largest mapped hydropower websites supposed for industrial use, Tasersiaq (web site 07.e) and Tarsartuup Tasersua (web site 06.g), in accordance with Naalakkersuisut.gl.
It mentioned the two websites collectively could produce greater than 9,500 gigawatt-hours yearly.
Mining math is easy.
Bitmain’s Antminer S21 specification lists 200 TH/s at 3,500 watts, or about 17.5 joules per terahash, in accordance with Bitmain.
Using a planning energy utilization effectiveness worth close to 1.1 (cooling and overhead), 1 megawatt of facility energy equates to about 0.052 exahash per second (EH/s) at 17.5 J/TH.
That implies about 0.041–0.061 EH/s throughout a 15–22 J/TH effectivity band.
| Facility energy (MW) | Hashrate ceiling (EH/s) @ 17.5 J/TH, PUE 1.1 |
|---|---|
| 5 | 0.26 |
| 25 | 1.30 |
| 50 | 2.60 |
| 100 | 5.19 |
Greenland’s put in base is much smaller than the tendered ambition.
Nukissiorfiit experiences about 91.3 megawatts of hydropower capability throughout its methods and a median electrical energy gross sales value of about DKK 1.81 per kilowatt-hour in 2024, in accordance with its annual report.
Retail-style pricing at that degree doesn’t map cleanly onto mining economics.
That is why any giant construct depends upon industrial energy buy agreements or behind-the-meter provide at new era, fairly than shopping for energy like a regular buyer.
The lack of a nationwide grid narrows the paths to scale.
Power stations typically serve cities and settlements as native methods, with restricted interconnection, in accordance with Trap Greenland.
That pushes early “stranded” or surplus-energy ideas towards colocating versatile load at particular crops.
Greenland reporting has mentioned using surplus energy in the context of reducing energy prices, in accordance with Greenland Review.
If 5–25 megawatts could be aggregated behind the meter close to present era, the ceiling is about 0.21–1.52 EH/s throughout the 15–22 J/TH band (about 0.26–1.30 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
That is sufficient for pilots, however not sufficient to maneuver world community share.
The subsequent rung up is Nuuk’s fundamental hydro plant.
Scaling bitcoin mining in Greenland: from surplus energy pilots to grid-level growth
Buksefjord is deliberate to develop from 45 megawatts to 121 megawatts, with building anticipated to start in 2026 and commissioning focused for 2032, in accordance with NunaGreen.
The European Investment Bank’s project pipeline references a roughly 76-megawatt Buksefjord-3 construct close to the present 45-megawatt plant.
If 50–121 megawatts of output had been contracted to miners, the electrical ceiling is about 2.07–7.33 EH/s throughout the 15–22 J/TH band (about 2.6–6.3 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
That assumes these megawatts usually are not absorbed by Nuuk demand development and electrification plans.
The two-site tender is the place Greenland becomes a gigawatt-scale dialogue.
More than 9,500 GWh a 12 months equates to about 1.08 gigawatts of common energy if absolutely utilized.
That implies an electricity-limited hashrate ceiling round 44.8–65.7 EH/s throughout the 15–22 J/TH band (about 56.0 EH/s at 17.5 J/TH).
Tracking websites place Bitcoin hashrate round 1.03–1.17 zetahash per second (ZH/s), and minerstat locations issue close to 148 trillion, in accordance with minerstat.
On that baseline, a absolutely utilized 1.08 GW mine implies about 4–6% of immediately’s community hashrate, with the share shrinking if world hashrate expands.
Could Trump-linked capital eye Greenland’s energy surplus for Bitcoin mining growth?
Trump-linked mining capital is already forming, which is why Greenland’s energy calendar could draw consideration inside the sector.
Hut 8 partnered with Eric Trump to launch American Bitcoin, combining Hut 8’s mining operations with an investor group that features Donald Trump Jr., whereas Hut 8 retained an 80% stake.
American Bitcoin mentioned put in hashrate expanded to about 24 EH/s and cited fleet effectivity round 16.4 J/TH as of Sept. 1, 2025, in accordance with the company.
Using the similar PUE 1.1 planning worth, 24 EH/s implies roughly 430 megawatts of facility energy at 16.4 J/TH (about 460 megawatts at 17.5 J/TH).
That means a absolutely utilized 1.08 GW tender buildout could energy an American Bitcoin-sized fleet greater than as soon as over, if the offtake had been devoted to mining and if transmission and building timelines cleared.
Even in a “what if” sovereignty situation, the constraints keep sensible.
Industrial hydro requires multiyear building, heavy logistics, and long-duration offtake, and mines want resilient knowledge hyperlinks, spares, and import capability for ASIC fleets.
Greenland Connect hyperlinks Canada, Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Iceland by subsea cable, in accordance with Tusass, however it doesn’t clear up transmission to distant hydro basins.
Clean, agency megawatts additionally face competitors from different masses.
The International Energy Agency has warned that AI will drive greater electrical energy demand from knowledge facilities, which might elevate the alternative value of dedicating long-duration renewable output to mining.
Diplomacy will form financing situations round any “Trump Greenland mine” thesis.
European officers have harassed that Greenland’s standing rests on consent and sovereignty norms, in accordance with Reuters.
Greenland’s tender spherical deliberate for the second half of 2026 will set the baseline for any large-scale Bitcoin mining offtake from new hydropower on the island.
Why Greenland’s energy economics and geopolitics matter for large-scale Bitcoin mining
However, if Greenland had been introduced underneath U.S. jurisdiction and handled as an energy buildout zone fairly than a small, fragmented utility market, the renewable ceiling that issues for mining would shift from 1-GW-class hydro tenders to additionally concentrate on wind.
According to a methods examine printed in Energy and listed on ScienceDirect, Greenland’s onshore wind technical potential is about 333 GW nameplate, producing about 1,487 TWh per 12 months underneath the assumption that 20% of Greenland’s ice-free space is offered.
That equates to about 170 GW of common era on an energy foundation.
Output could be variable and would require transmission, overbuild, curtailment, storage, and firming to serve a 24/7 load at scale.
Translating that energy-only ceiling into hashrate exhibits how far the “Trump Greenland mine” narrative could be pushed in concept.
At 15–22 J/TH with PUE round 1.1, 170 GW of common era implies roughly 7.0–10.4 ZH/s of hashing capability if miners could take up the common output as a versatile load, nicely above immediately’s community.
Current hashrate stands at round 1 ZH/s, so buying sufficient mining machines to facilitate such a build-out makes this principally a theoretical train in potential forward-facing limits.
Also, 10 ZH/s shouldn’t be a “24/7 agency baseload” except you add large transmission, overbuild, curtailment, and storage/firming (or settle for downtime/variable operation). It’s a ceiling primarily based on absorbing common wind energy fairly than delivering assured energy each hour.
Still, a crude linear extrapolation of that very same examine’s land-availability assumption from 20% to 100% implies about 7,435 TWh per 12 months (about 848 GW common), or roughly 34.8–51.7 ZH/s.
That is a physics-and-maps ceiling fairly than a construct plan, given siting, allowing, ports, roads, and HVDC necessities.
According to IRENA, the world common put in value for new onshore wind in 2023 was about $1,154 per kW.
That places 333 GW at roughly $384 billion in generators alone earlier than Arctic premiums, transmission, and firming infrastructure.
OneMiners lists an Antminer S21 XP Hyd at 473 TH/s for $6,799. To make the most of 333 GW, you’d want roughly 21,141,650 miners, which involves round $143 billion.
However, that’s simply the ASIC buy value. It excludes transport, duties/VAT, spares, racks/PSUs/networking, buildings, cooling/hydro loops, and commissioning, stuff that’s very non-trivial at tens of thousands and thousands of models.
All in, assuming {hardware} is offered (which it is not), an funding of round $427 billion would give a miner primarily based in Greenland sufficient renewable energy-sourced hash energy to regulate the $1.8 trillion Bitcoin community ten occasions over. Or round $55 billion to equal the present community hashrate (it’s not merely 1/tenth on account of scaling).
These are all “again of an envelope” figures with tons of caveats and assumptions, however the actuality is that there is sufficient unused energy in Greenland to energy the Bitcoin community many occasions over. With Starlink deployment, you could most likely construct some main AI datacenters, too.
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