Tether Engages with El Salvador’s Volcano Energy Project

In Metapán, El Salvador, a sizable renewable energy park known as “Volcano Energy” is being financed by Tether.

Tether, a stablecoin issuer, is taking part in a $250 million investment in an El Salvadorian renewable energy project.

Tether will participate in a 241-megawatt renewable energy plant named “Volcano Energy” in the northern city of Metapán as one of the few investors taking part in the project that seeks to raise $1 billion.

Tether stated that its objective is to assist in establishing a significant bitcoin mining facility by utilizing the volcanic region’s solar and wind energy resources.

Tether said in a statement released on Monday that the selected location, which is situated in the El Chiste hamlet, will feature 169 megawatts of solar power and 72 megawatts of wind power. This configuration is anticipated to provide more than 1.3 exahash of computational power, which is essential for supporting operations like Bitcoin mining.

The CEO of “Volcano Energy” and El Salvador’s Bitcoin consul, Josue Lopez, was praised as having an innovative and strategic idea by Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino, who also expressed pleasure in cooperating with him and his team.

Lopez stated that at the moment, 52% of Bitcoin mining is carried out sustainably. “We believe that this percentage will rise significantly in the upcoming years through significant investments like ours,” he continued.

A Tether representative declined to comment on whether USDT tokens will be included in the investment but insisted that it has no influence on or uses any of the reserves that back the tokens. 

“Considering the monthly income Tether generates, the quantity of our investment in Volcano Energy is relatively limited, and it is well within our surplus reserves. It is not taken from or affecting the reserves backing the tokens,” the spokesperson said.

In 2021, El Salvador investigated harnessing the electricity from its volcanoes for Bitcoin mining. Using inexpensive and environmentally friendly energy from the nation’s volcanoes, President Nayib Bukele tweeted that he had instructed the head of the state-owned geothermal electric firm, La Geo, to develop facilities for bitcoin mining.