COINDESK · 2026-11-14 13:00 UTC

Britain could turn wasted Scottish wind power into bitcoin to cut its $1.3 billion grid bill

A Bitcoin Policy Institute report says bitcoin mining could help use Scottish wind power that is curtailed, which costs Britain over 1 billion pounds a year in payments to wind farms to switch off. Mining facilities curtailed consumption 5% to 31% of the time across ten companies studied, and the report recommends assessing sites behind the Scotland-England transmission bottleneck. The report also says British banking restrictions, tax rules and inconsistent regulation undermine the UK's bid to become a bitcoin hub, with about 40% of retail transfers to exchanges reportedly blocked or delayed.

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