The year Bhutan started keeping its own power

For most of its history as a power exporter, Bhutan sent the large majority of its electricity to India and kept a small share for itself. In 2023 that flipped — domestic consumption overtook exports for the first time, and the gap has widened since.

The driver is industrial. New round-the-clock loads — crypto mining prominent among them — now consume much of Bhutan’s domestic power, pushing 2025 home use to about 9,160 GWh against 7,925 GWh exported. Peak demand has climbed from 336 MW in 2015 to 1,477 MW in late 2025.

The shift is double-edged. Domestic sales are revenue the distribution utility keeps in full, rather than export receipts that must service bilateral construction loans — but the same megawatts can no longer be sold to India, and the always-on mining load deepens Bhutan’s dependence on winter electricity imports. The result is the closed loop sharpened: a hydropower nation increasingly consuming its own output. See the closed loop, why Bhutan buys electricity back in winter, and Paradox #5.