How much is too much?

Ercot estimates that 33 gigawatts (GW) worth of bitcoin mining projects planned are waiting for permits, a representative told CoinDesk on Monday, up from 27 GW in mid-July.

Kinard said that the number of estimated mining projects waiting for interconnection is inflated because companies sometimes apply twice for the same project.

Instead, the TBC estimates that about 5 GW of mining will be built out by the end of 2023 and beyond that it’s too difficult to predict, Kinard said.

There are now 1.5 GW of active mining projects in the state, Kinard said.

By comparison, Ercot expects about 80 GW of peak demand during the summer of 2022, compared with up 93 GW of energy production based on current and planned resources, according to the council as cited by the Texas comptroller.

Some of that energy production, however, is located in West Texas, far from population or industrial centers and with no transmission lines to carry it efficiently where it is needed. Those parts of Texas sometimes even give away electricity for free because of oversupply.

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