El Salvador's renewable energy project gets funding from Tether

Stablecoin issuer Tether will partner with El Salvador and invest in the country's renewable energy project

By Shashank Bhardwaj

2 min read

Published: Jun 8, 2023 02:52:16 PM IST

Updated: Jun 8, 2023 02:53:05 PM IST

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Tether has made an announcement of its collaboration with El Salvador; the stablecoin issuer plans to invest $1 billion for a renewable energy initiative in the Bitcoin-friendly country.

Notably, El Salvador was the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender.

Tether is one of the investors in a first-round of funding for Volcano Energy, a 241 megawatt (MW) renewable energy park that is to be launched soon. Located in Metapán, the site will comprise 169 MWs of photovoltaic solar energy and 72 MWs of wind.

The project is part of El Salvador’s efforts in becoming a leader in the world as far as renewable energy production and Bitcoin adoption is concerned. El Salvador has the highest level of geothermal energy production in Central America; Tether said that it is excited to be among the first investors in the project and also to support El Salvador's vision of fostering innovation and sustainability.

In its constant efforts for increasing the adoption of Bitcoin, the renewable power generation park in Metapán is El Salvador’s most recent development aimed at harnessing solar and wind power.

Bitcoin mining farms of El Salvador will be powered by the energy produced; Tether estimates that the park’s computation power will surpass 1.3 exahashes in one second. This output will make the cumulative Bitcoin mining hash rate from Volcano Energy reach the top 20 pools that operate globally.

Volcano Energy also responds to the criticism that the mining of Bitcoin is harmful to the environment. More than half of Bitcoin mining is done using renewable energy sources as per Tether and it also says that this percentage is to increase significantly in the future with such projects.

Josue Lopez, the CEO of Volcano Energy, said that he envisions the park to become a benchmark for the mining of Bitcoin through the use of renewable resources as the sector continues to focus on innovation in a competitive and expansive environment.

Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technology Officer at Tether, said that the investment showcases Tether’s intent to drive investments in renewable energy and mining infrastructure.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash