The Bhutanese Leading the way.
The 500 MW data center or Bitcoin mine of Bitdeer is currently operational at 424 MW capacity, generating Bitcoins for the company.
The mine would be at the full 500 MW capacity if not for a substation issue at Jigmeling, which is being resolved by the Bhutan Power Corporation (BPC).
The fact that the plant is generating at near-full capacity in winter will come as a pleasant surprise for Bitcoin followers, as it was expected that the mine might even have to shut down in winter since imported power is very expensive.
However, the mine has determined that it is worth paying the higher imported power bills in order to keep running.
Currently, the mine is paying around Nu 5 per unit for imported power from India, which is much above the local power rate.
Local power, which is cheaper, is kept for domestic residents, businesses and industries, leaving no surplus for the mine. Bhutan is currently generating only 700 MW due to the dry winter season and importing around 500 MW.
The mine construction was completed by December 2025, but it was getting completed in phases, with the first phase done by April 2025 when operations began.
It could not go for the full 500 MW capacity since December 2025 given the substation issues.
The other Bitdeer mine is a 100 MW one in Gedu, part of which is under maintenance, and so it is not generating at full capacity right now.
The initial plan was that Bhutan would invest some money into these two mines and receive a share of the revenue, but later on that arrangement was changed.
For now, Bhutan has not invested in the two mines of 600 MW but is benefitting in other ways.
One is tax revenue, which has to be paid in US dollars. The tax rate may not be as high as the Corporate Income Tax rate, but the amount is substantial. The project also has to pay land lease rent to Bhutan in USD and buy power at a competitive rate from Bhutan and pay in USD for it too.
The Jigmeling mine employs around 40 Bhutanese, while the Gedu mine employs around 20.
Bitdeer has to import power in winter as there is no commitment from Bhutan to supply power in the lean months of January, February and March.
Bitdeer’s two mines are currently registered in Bhutan, but the company is now working to register them under the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) project.
The mining difficulty rate has increased over time with the increase in value of Bitcoins.
Bitdeer currently has no plans to build additional mines in Bhutan given the power constraints, but it may explore more in the future once Bhutan completes more power projects in the future.
It is not known how much Bitcoins was mined by the 500 MW mine in December, but one can get an approximate idea by looking at the Bitdeer’s own December performance data.
Bitdeer as of December 2025, has 1,658 MW worth of mines in 11 locations, of which Bhutan comprises 600 MW with the Jigmeling and Gedu mines.
In December it mined 636 Bitcoins from these 11 mines.
The price of Bitcoin as of Friday evening was USD 94,364.
