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France faces a familiar problem: it often makes more electricity than it can sell. According to energy researcher Raphaël Bloch, the country wasted about € 80 million worth of power in 2024.
Now, a group of lawmakers wants to put that extra juice to work. They’ve filed Amendment No. 547 with the National Assembly to fold Bitcoin mining into the national energy plan.
Based on reports, Bitcoin rigs can start and stop in seconds. That makes them ideal for soaking up sudden slugs of power that would otherwise vanish. France gets more than 70% of its electricity from nuclear plants.
Those reactors aren’t built to throttle down fast when demand dips. Mining farms could jump in, kick their computers on, and gobble up the surplus until the grid needs a breather again.
Lawmakers want to set up mining centers close to power stations. They’re even eyeing old industrial sites that fell idle when factories shut doors. Those locations already have the hookups and space.
Bringing in miners could spark new jobs in areas that have faced decline. Plus, the heat from the machines wouldn’t go to waste. It could warm homes or feed local factories, cutting energy bills for nearby communities.
Critics warn that mining still uses a lot of power. Even though France’s grid is mostly low-carbon, it isn’t zero-carbon. Bringing in too many rigs might push authorities to keep aging reactors online longer or fire up backup gas plants during peak use.
That would chip away at the climate targets the amendment is meant to support. Parliament will have to set clear limits on mining capacity and tie operations to real power surpluses only.
France isn’t alone. Belarus has launched a study on using Bitcoin farms to absorb extra energy. Pakistan has set aside 2,000 megawatts for Bitcoin and AI data centers. Texas, with its wind-heavy grid, has even hailed mining as a way to smooth out wild swings in power supply.
Daniel Batten, a researcher in the field, says this kind of controllable demand could be exactly what grids around the world need to handle green but unpredictable sources like wind and solar.
