Study on the economics of wind energy through cryptocurrency

The Green Pact signed by the European Union establishes a trend towards renewable energies to combat the greenhouse gas emissions. Among the technologies used to produce this type of energy, wind power generation technology stands out, which, in countries such as Spain, already has significant installed power. The main problems posed by this technology plans are the uncertainty intervals of wind power and its inclusion in the electricity market, due to the complex price system that does not always favor the producers. The main purpose of this research is to promote the installation of more wind power plants. For this, the installation of cryptocurrency mining equipment is proposed, which will be powered by the generation produced by these wind power plants. The article analyzes the production of cryptocurrencies is a growing business. In the research process, the latest cryptocurrency mining equipment is evaluated. It is analyzed which equipment is the most suitable for its installation in the wind power plant and an economic study is made for the construction project of a large wind power plant. Finally, it will be seen that in this way the amortization time of the facilities decreases and also the project is more attractive for the investor since they can decide between injecting energy into the electrical network or mining cryptocurrencies. If a wind power plant invests in cryptocurrency mining in parallel to the production of electrical energy for the grid, it can decide when to enter the electricity market pool or engage in mining. In this way, the idea of building many more wind power plants becomes more attractive. This would lead to a market where this renewable energy would be much more abundant and the price curve would shift to a lower price, as well as a significant reduction in greenhouse emissions. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.