Bitcoin Mena: Abu Dhabi to host UAE's biggest solar farm dedicated to crypto mining worth $1bn

Two UAE companies are teaming up to build the country's biggest solar farm dedicated to cryptocurrency mining that could be worth $1 billion in Abu Dhabi, as it aims to promote sustainable solutions to the energy-intensive process.

The partnership between Abu Dhabi-based climate technology funding platform Gigatons and Dubai-based blockchain company Hearst aims to help to build a sustainable foundation for the future of finance, as announced at the Bitcoin Mena conference in the UAE capital on Tuesday.

The first phase of the solar farm aims to have between 50 megawatts and 100MW, with the top end expected to bring investments up at $1 billion, Loic Ricci, chief operating officer of Hearst, told The National on the sidelines of the event.

The companies will start with a proof of concept worth about $10 million, with each megawatt to be worth "tens of millions of dollars", he said.

"We are going to start incrementally by $10 million, then $100 million and then we'll see," he added.

Their joint venture partnership is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, the time the companies expect to receive regulatory approvals, with construction scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2025, Mr Ricci said.

"We want to go fast because it's a very reactive market. It's a unique opportunity ... [from] 1MW, we want to to push the boundaries [and] bring change to the industry," he said.

Cryptocurrency mining is the process by which digital assets are obtained, most famously initiated by Bitcoin. They are secured through a blockchain network.

However, the process is energy-intensive, as miners need special hardware for the task. Dedicated mining companies, with already highly efficient setups, consumed about 155,000 kWh of electricity to mine a single Bitcoin, according to Crypto.com.

For perspective, the average energy consumed for one Bitcoin transaction is 851.77 kWh, which is equivalent to about a month's worth of electric power consumption in an average US household, it added.

Gigatons and Hearst seek to tap into the UAE's abundant solar energy. The country is already using this renewable energy source with several projects, most notably the Al Dhafra Solar Park in Abu Dhabi and Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in Dubai.

“The transition era is here and it’s creating unprecedented opportunities for innovation and impact ... [we aim to] deliver scaleable, transparent solutions that redefine how blockchain and AI drive the world towards net zero," Heston Harper, chief executive of Gigatons, said in a statement.