Hello, I'm Ed Butler and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC.

Today I'm in Georgia on the eastern edge of Europe where the cascading rivers of the high Caucasian mountains are providing the power for a new industrial boom.

About 80% of our generation is produced by hydro power plants here in Georgia.

The business of hydro power plants was one of the most winning industry in terms of attracting foreign direct investments.

But who exactly is profiting? It's those mining the digital currency Bitcoin.

And critics say they are sucking the power grid dry.

It's consuming more electricity than, for example, big industries that Georgia has.

It's beating everyone, actually, all direct consumers.

Who holds the power in Georgia?

That's Business Daily from the BBC.

Well, it couldn't be a starker contrast.

I'm standing now in the middle of what would be virgin forest.

This is the high caucuses. I'm already one and a half thousand metres up and I'm surrounded by mountains carpeted in this beautiful lush yellow green orange of autumn.

The snows will be with us soon. But behind me is a different colour and a different sound altogether.

You can hear it the grey of a modern, well, fairly modern hydroelectric power plant.

It is one of dozens across the country at the moment.

There are several more being planned even as we speak.

There is a rush to produce more power in Georgia.

Hydroelectric power, power harnessing the natural energy of nature

coming in the rivers that pour off the mountains here.

The extraordinary thing, though, is right here in this empty wilderness,

it seems like there was a pretty major riot just a few months ago.

...