Bitcoin mining as an energy solution
How Stackforest turns surplus electricity into heat and Bitcoin
Negative electricity prices, increasing feed-in peaks and the expiry of secure remuneration models pose new challenges for many operators of renewable energy systems. Those who produce electricity when it is not needed in the grid are increasingly faced with the question: How can this surplus be used sensibly and economically?
A practical example from Lower Saxony shows that Bitcoin mining can be part of the solution.
Together with the start-up Stackforest, a plant was implemented in Melle that converts surplus electricity from renewable energies into two things: usable heat and Bitcoin. The project is one of the first pilot plants of its kind in Germany and clearly demonstrates the potential that Bitcoin mining can have as a flexible energy user in a renewable energy system.
Surplus electricity needs new marketing channels
The further expansion of photovoltaics and wind power is exacerbating a problem that many operators are already aware of today: Electricity is not always generated when it is needed. Especially in hours of high solar production and low demand, there are increasingly negative electricity prices or situations in which feeding electricity into the grid is hardly economically attractive.
For operators, this means that they have to find new ways of utilizing energy locally, flexibly and economically.
This is exactly where Bitcoin mining comes in. Mining can absorb electricity when it is available in surplus. Unlike many conventional consumers, this load is highly flexible, controllable and immediately available. If the system is also combined with heat utilization, a double benefit is created: Electrical energy not only becomes digital assets, but also marketable thermal energy.
The project in Melle: Heat first, Bitcoin as additional revenue
In Melle, Lower Saxony, entrepreneur Matthias Kief operates a 10.6 MW ground-mounted photovoltaic system. In order to make better economic use of surpluses, a 150 kW mining system is being installed there, which is primarily operated with PV electricity.
What is special about the model is that the water-cooled ASIC miners are not only understood as computing technology, but also as a heat source. The electrical power used is almost completely converted into heat and fed into a connected local heating network. The resulting waste heat can thus be used sensibly and utilized economically. In this model, Bitcoin does not appear as an isolated speculative object, but as additional revenue in an integrated energy management concept.
This interaction is crucial. This is because mining becomes economically interesting in the energy context above all when the electricity would otherwise only be remunerated poorly or not at all and there is a reliable demand for heat at the same time. The project in Melle shows that precisely this combination can work in practice.
Stackforest brings mining and heat utilization together
The system was implemented by Stackforest, a company from Villingen-Schwenningen that specializes in mining infrastructure. Stackforest not only supplies the hardware, but also an integrated solution that combines mining technology and heating technology.
The system includes water-cooled ASIC miners, control units, pumps and heat exchangers that can transfer the generated heat to existing heating systems at suitable flow temperatures. This integrated approach in particular shows where the market can develop: away from the idea of an isolated computing process and towards an infrastructure embedded in the energy and heat economy.
This is a particularly exciting approach for Germany. This is because electricity costs here are high by international standards, while at the same time local surpluses from renewable generation and existing heat requirements are increasing in many areas – for example in local heating networks, in agriculture, in drying processes or in commercial applications.
With the project in Melle, Stackforest shows that Bitcoin mining does not have to be thought of in isolation from the real economy. On the contrary: it can create added value where energy is absorbed flexibly and the resulting heat is used productively.
Bitcoin mining is more than just a computing process
In public, Bitcoin mining is often reduced to its power consumption. This view falls short.
In reality, mining is a highly flexible power consumer that can be useful to the grid in certain constellations. It can absorb generation peaks, stabilize systems economically and be used where other loads are not available at short notice. If the heat generated is also used, the overall economic efficiency improves considerably.
Especially in an energy system that is increasingly characterized by volatile renewable generation, flexible consumers are becoming more and more important. Bitcoin mining can take on such a role – not everywhere and not across the board, but very much so in suitable applications.
The Stackforest project shows precisely this perspective: mining as part of a cross-sector energy concept that combines electricity, heat and digital value creation.
Relevance for agriculture and SMEs
This approach is particularly interesting for companies that have their own generation capacities and at the same time have a continuous demand for heat. These include agricultural businesses with biogas, PV or wind systems as well as companies with local heating, process heat or drying requirements.
Where surplus electricity is generated and heat can be utilized, Bitcoin mining can help to tap into additional revenue potential and broaden energy marketing.
Of course, not every project is automatically economical. The individual framework conditions are decisive – in particular electricity availability, heat utilization, investment costs, regulatory classification and operational integration. This is precisely why practical examples such as the one in Melle are so important. They make the topic tangible and help to evaluate real-life applications beyond theoretical debates.
The Bitcoin Bundesverband actively supports the topic
As the Bitcoin Bundesverband, we welcome it when innovative member companies show how Bitcoin technology can be used in Germany in a concrete, productive and cross-industry way. The Stackforest project is a strong example of this.
At the same time, it shows why the association’s work in this area is important. With our Energy, ESG and Mining Committee, we are actively and constructively involved in the debate on Bitcoin mining as an energy solution. The aim is to provide fact-based information about the opportunities, requirements and regulatory framework.
We are interested in more than just mining itself. It is about the question of how Bitcoin technology can be combined with the energy industry, infrastructure, sustainability and industrial applications. Germany needs more objectivity, more technical understanding and more openness to innovative models in this discussion.
The Committee for Energy, ESG and Mining of the Bitcoin Bundesverband sees itself as a platform for exchange, classification and representation of interests. Together with companies, experts and practical partners, we want to contribute to a better understanding of the potential of Bitcoin mining as a flexible energy solution in Germany.
Making innovation visible
The Stackforest pilot project in Melle shows that Bitcoin mining in Germany becomes particularly interesting when it is not viewed in isolation, but as part of a holistic energy approach. Where surplus electricity is generated, heat can be used sensibly and there is an entrepreneurial will to shape the future, new models of valorization emerge.
For the Bitcoin Bundesverband, it is clear that such projects deserve attention. They show that Bitcoin is not just a digital money system, but can also produce concrete applications at the interfaces to energy, infrastructure and industrial use.
We are delighted that Stackforest, one of our member companies, is actively shaping this development – and that we as an association are accompanying and supporting this important topic through our Energy, ESG and Mining Committee.
