How a Shipping Container and Bitcoin Saved a Stranded African Hydro Project

What happens when a rural African community generates more electricity than it can consume? Can Bitcoin mining turn unused hydropower into a source of economic revival for the local community?

Table of contents

• Zengamina's Fading Vision Finds Light
• Meshless installations offer a plug and play solution
• The fine line between support and burden
• Is it possible to adapt this model?

Zengamina's Fading Vision Finds Light

In the remote area of Ikelenge in northwestern Zambia, a small hydroelectric power station quietly produces more electricity than nearby villages can use.

Built in the early 2010s with $3 million in philanthropic funding, the 1 MW Zengamina plant was not originally intended to be a profit-making facility. Its goal was to power a local hospital, homes and schools, and support local development.

However, for many years, much of this electricity remained unused. With a population of about 15,000 and no significant commercial or industrial activity, the community lacked the necessary infrastructure to consume the surplus.

As a result, more than half of the plant's output was regularly dumped back into the river, effectively being lost.

By 2022, the project was in serious trouble. Planned expansion was stalled, revenues had fallen below breakeven, and hopes for greater access to energy had faded. Then a new partner came along with an unconventional solution.

Gridless, a Nairobi-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining startup, has set up a mobile rig at the Zengamina site, which is a container housing 120 ASIC mining machines.

Connected directly to the local mini-grid, the setup runs non-stop, consuming excess energy that would otherwise go unused, and converting the electricity it produces into a stream of bitcoins.

At current market rates, each machine earns about $5 per day, though profitability varies depending on the price of Bitcoin and mining difficulty. Gridless shares some of that income with the hydroelectric plant, which now accounts for about a third of Zengamina’s total revenue.

This financial incentive has had a tangible impact. Electricity rates have dropped, new households have come online, and the plant is now operating closer to its full capacity, serving the community more efficiently than before.

But a broader question remains: Is this a one-off success, or could this model offer a scalable path to rural electrification in regions lacking traditional economic incentives? Let's find out.

Meshless installations offer a plug and play solution

Zengamina is not alone. Across sub-Saharan Africa, small-scale energy projects often face the same problem: lots of power, but not enough customers to use it.

Mini-grids, typically funded by donor funds or development grants, often operate below capacity not because they cannot generate electricity but because they lack the industrial base to consume it.

According to the African Mini-Grid Developers Association, more than 65% of these systems remain commercially unviable and rely on subsidies, carbon credits or philanthropic capital.

Gridless aims to make this model sustainable without external funding. The company has installed mobile bitcoin mining rigs at six hydroelectric power plants in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia, each chosen for its ability to produce clean energy in low-demand areas to keep the infrastructure running.

Mining rigs act as a financial buffer: they operate continuously, regardless of when and how much electricity the local population consumes, and from day one they convert energy that would otherwise be lost into income.

At Zengamina, the results were clear. With a stable customer, the plant expanded its coverage, lowered rates, and improved service in new parts of the community.

Small businesses such as hairdressers, kiosks and internet cafes are now open longer. Internet connections have improved. Access to electricity has become functional rather than just symbolic.

It is important to note that this agreement was not intended to be a permanent partnership. Gridless sees itself as a temporary player. As demand from households and commercial users grows, its role will be reduced.

Zengamina plans to connect to Zambia’s national grid within the next year, which will open the door to better prices through partnerships with utilities. When that happens, the mining rig will be dismantled and Gridless will be moved to another location.

The fine line between support and burden

Gridless is currently seeking funding to develop its own small hydroelectric projects.

Source: cryptonews.net