Tether Finances a $1 Billion Renewable Energy Project in El Salvador

Tether, a stablecoin issuer, has agreed to participate in El Salvador's ambitions to develop a $1 billion renewable energy precinct as a first-round investor.

Source: blockworks.co

Tether, a stablecoin issuer, has announced its collaboration with El Salvador, a country that has embraced Bitcoins, in a planned $1 billion renewable energy project. As the first government to recognize Bitcoin as legal cash approximately three years ago, this Central American nation is still working to promote Bitcoin usage. The latest initiative involves the development of a renewable energy generation hub in Metapán, designed to harness solar and wind energy to support Bitcoin mining operations and generate revenue.

Tether is one of the investors in a first-round capital raise for the construction of Volcano Energy, a future renewable energy facility with a capacity of 241 MW. Located in Metapán, the facility will incorporate 72 MW of wind power and 169 MW of photovoltaic power.

How Bitcoin is Actually Used in El Salvador

The energy generated will run El Salvador's bitcoin mining operations, with Tether predicting that the park's processing power exceeds 1.3 EH/s. With this result, Volcano Energy's total Bitcoin mining hashrate would rank in the top 20 pools active worldwide.

Paolo Ardoino, chief technical officer of Tether, said the investment shows the stablecoin issuer's intention to encourage investment in mining infrastructure and sustainable energy generation. In an increasingly competitive and expansive market, Josue Lopez, CEO of Volcano Energy, highlighted the park's aspiration to become a leading example of Bitcoin mining powered by renewable resources. He stated, "At the moment, a little over 52% of Bitcoin mining is ethical. However, with significant investments like ours, we anticipate a substantial increase in this percentage in the years to come."

The size of the investment was kept a secret by Tether in its communication with Cointelegraph. Notably, Max Keiser, a prominent bitcoin advocate and broadcaster, plays an active role in El Salvador's adoption initiatives. He serves as the Chairman of Volcano Energy and also acts as an advisor to President Nayib Bukele.

Saifedean Ammous, an economist and the author of "The Bitcoin Standard," has emerged as another advocate of Bitcoin actively involved in the governance of El Salvador. Ammous joined as the economic advisor to the National Bitcoin Office.

 As Cointelegraph's Joe Hall discovered earlier in 2022 when traveling to El Salvador, the prevalence of Bitcoin and the ease with which the leading cryptocurrency may be used there present a more intriguing image. 

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