Mining the Wind: Blockchain-Enabled Flexible Loads for Curtailment Mitigation
Ross Edwards, Dimitrios Pappas, Beatrice Smyth · 2026
High penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) often leads to curtailment in wind-dominant grids with limited storage or transmission flexibility, lowering effective capacity factors, reducing low-carbon generation, and weakening project economics. We develop a Stage-1 MATLAB/Simulink proof-of-concept that couples a 0.2 MW wind-turbine equivalent with dispatchable ASIC Bitcoin miners sized to utilize 10–90% of otherwise curtailed power through export-cap limits. Turbine drivetrain/electrical losses are modelled at 9% (ηWECS = 0.91); downstream rectifier/PSU/cabling efficiency is ηchain = 0.91 (ηoverall ≈ 0.82). A synthetic baseline capacity factor (CF) of 0.20 is used with results reported as ΔCF above baseline or capacity factor uplift from a representative 10% curtailment case observed in multiple markets (e.g., ERCOT, CAISO, UK, and Ireland). Counterfactual scenarios indicate ΔCF ≈ +0.01 (base case 10% scenario) to ΔCF ≈ +0.09 (extreme 90%). Using a transparent monetization rate derived from £4/day per 100 TH/s miner (≈ £55/MWh absorbed), the 0.2 MW case yields up to £70,000 annually under high utilization conditions. Our Stage-1 findings demonstrate that programmable digital demand can convert curtailed wind into cashflow and CF gains, motivating fuller Stage-2/3 validation.