Single inactive volcano has 90% chance of powering El Salvador's Bitcoin City, according to president

Published at: Jan. 10, 2022

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has claimed officials will be able to use geothermal energy from one of the country’s inactive volcanoes to power its Bitcoin City project.

In a Sunday notice, Bukele said there was a 90% probability of using the Conchagua volcano to supply 42 megawatts — “enough to provide energy to the entire Bitcoin City,” according to the president. The El Salvadoran leader said the state-owned electrical company LaGeo was continuing to increase its production of geothermal power from different volcanoes in the country, with one of the sites believed capable of producing 95 MW.

Conchagua, located near El Salvador’s eastern border and overlooking the Gulf of Fonseca, has had no confirmed historical eruptions. According to Bukele, should the power consumption of the country’s planned Bitcoin City exceed the volcano’s capacity, it can be sourced from other sites. He said any energy surplus would also be used for mining Bitcoin (BTC) to add to El Salvador’s coffers. Bukele has previously announced several crypto buys totaling 1,391 BTC — more than $57.7 million at the time of publication following the brief price drop under $40,000.

Related: El Salvador: How it started vs. how it went with the Bitcoin Law in 2021

Bukele first proposed having LaGeo make some of its facilities available to BTC miners in June shortly after announcing his intention to make the crypto asset legal tender. In November, the El Salvador president said the country planned to launch a Bitcoin City funded by $1 billion in BTC bonds. Both crypto exchange Bitfinex and Blockstream have said they plan to support the initiative.

The president aims to have the Bitcoin City become a fully functional city with jobs in tourism, construction, commerce, and engineering. Residents will reportedly pay no capital gains, income, property or payroll taxes.

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Bitcoin
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El Salvador
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