Strategic Assessment

The Search for Gigawatts

Global Opportunity Matrix: Stranded Power Assets & AI Scaling Infrastructure

75Target Regions

21Sanctuaries

45Arbitrage Zones

7Forbidden

2Dark Horses

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Sanctuary

Tier 1 access, optimal efficiency

QuebecNewfoundlandBritish ColumbiaManitobaGreenlandSoutheast AlaskaKenai PeninsulaN. NorwayN. SwedenIcelandFinlandSpainCarinthiaAlentejoValaisNew ZealandQueenslandWestern AustraliaNew South WalesTasmaniaTaupo

Arbitrage

Tier 2 access, strategic opportunity

Tabasco/VeracruzParaguayParaguayArgentinaArgentinaChileBrazilColombiaEcuadorPeruPotaro-SiparuniPotaro-SiparuniLa PazCochabambaGeorgiaEthiopiaAngolaMozambiqueKenyaSouth AfricaNigeriaGhanaAlgeriaMorogoroKarumaTeteSarawakLaosBhutanKyrgyzstanTajikistanKazakhstanUzbekistanTurkmenistanIndonesiaPakistanNepalBasra/RumailaKhuzestanVariousLuzonSumatra/JavaGobi DesertIrrawaddyPapua New Guinea

Forbidden

Embargoed or non-viable assets

VenezuelaDRCSirte BasinSiberiaSichuanYunnanKachin State

Dark Horse

Domestic arbitrage opportunities

North DakotaTexas

Power Type Distribution

Breakdown of 75 stranded power assets by generation type

Hydro47 (62.7%)

Flared Gas10 (13.3%)

Solar/Wind6 (8.0%)

Geothermal4 (5.3%)

Hydro Pumped Storage3 (4.0%)

Wind2 (2.7%)

Solar2 (2.7%)

Coal1 (1.3%)

Total Assets

Hydro Assets

Flared Gas

Solar/Wind

SanctuaryTier 1 access, optimal efficiency

ArbitrageTier 2 access, strategic opportunity

ForbiddenEmbargoed or non-viable assets

Dark HorseDomestic arbitrage opportunities

Source: Code & Capital – Iron Cloud Triangle Framework Analysis, December 2025

Iron Cloud Triangle Matrix

Each asset evaluated against the three vertices of viable AI infrastructure: Physical Power availability, Sovereign Stability, and Legal Permission for advanced compute deployment.

Favorable

Conditional

Restricted / Unavailable

Verdict Definitions(hover badges for details)

Viable

Difficult

Forbidden

Niche

Watch

Frontier

North America

Region	Asset	Verdict
Quebec	Manicouagan / La Grande	Difficult
Newfoundland	Muskrat Falls / Churchill	Viable
British Columbia	Site C Dam (Peace River)	Difficult
Manitoba	Nelson River Hydro	Difficult
North Dakota	Bakken Shale (Williston)	Viable
Texas	Permian Basin (West)	Viable
Greenland	Tasersiaq / Imarsuup	Frontier
Southeast Alaska	Hydro Potential	Frontier
Kenai Peninsula	Bradley Lake	Niche
Tabasco/Veracruz	Pemex Flared Gas	Difficult

South America

Region	Asset	Verdict
Paraguay	Itaipu Dam (Hernandarias)	Viable
Paraguay	Yacyretá Dam (Aña Cua)	Viable
Argentina	Vaca Muerta (Neuquén)	Viable
Argentina	Santa Cruz Dams (Condor Cliff)	Difficult
Chile	Magallanes (Haru Oni)	Difficult
Venezuela	Guri Dam (Bolívar)	Forbidden
Brazil	Belo Monte (Xingu)	Difficult
Colombia	Hidroituango	Difficult
Ecuador	Coca Codo Sinclair	Difficult
Peru	Mantaro Complex	Viable
Potaro-Siparuni	Amaila Falls	Watch
Potaro-Siparuni	National Hydro Potential	Frontier
La Paz	Jirau Surplus (from Brazil)	Niche
Cochabamba	Misicuni / Cañahuecal	Watch

Europe

Region	Asset	Verdict
N. Norway	NO4 Zone (Tromsø)	Viable
N. Sweden	Lule River (SE1 Zone)	Viable
Iceland	Landsvirkjun Grid	Difficult
Finland	Olkiluoto / Kajaanin	Viable
Spain	Solar Belt (Andalusia)	Viable
Georgia	Enguri Dam	Difficult
Carinthia	Malta-Reißeck	Viable
Alentejo	Solar/Wind Curtailment	Viable
Valais	Nant de Drance	Viable

Africa

Region	Asset	Verdict
Ethiopia	GERD (Benishangul)	Viable
Angola	Laúca Dam (Kwanza River)	Difficult
Mozambique	Cahora Bassa (Tete)	Difficult
Kenya	Olkaria (Naivasha)	Viable
DRC	Inga I & II (Congo River)	Forbidden
South Africa	Northern Cape	Viable
Nigeria	Delta State (OML 30)	Niche
Ghana	Akosombo Dam	Difficult
Algeria	Hassi Messaoud	Difficult
Morogoro	Julius Nyerere Hydropower	Viable
Karuma	Karuma Hydropower	Viable
Sirte Basin	Oil Field Flaring	Forbidden
Tete	Kariba Dam	Difficult

Asia / Eurasia

Region	Asset	Verdict
Sarawak	Bakun Dam (Balui River)	Viable
Laos	Xayaburi / Nam Theun 2	Difficult
Bhutan	Punatsangchhu / Chhukha	Niche
Siberia	Bratsk / Irkutsk (Angara)	Forbidden
Kyrgyzstan	Kambarata-1	Difficult
Tajikistan	Rogun Dam	Watch
Kazakhstan	Ekibastuz	Difficult
Uzbekistan	Navoi / Samarkand	Viable
Turkmenistan	Caspian Coast	Difficult
Indonesia	North Kalimantan (Kayan)	Watch
Pakistan	Dasu / Diamer-Bhasha	Difficult
Nepal	Upper Tamakoshi	Difficult
Basra/Rumaila	Flared Gas Fields	Viable
Khuzestan	South Pars Flared Gas	Difficult
Sichuan	Wudongde Dam (Jinsha)	Forbidden
Yunnan	Baihetan Dam	Forbidden
Various	Stranded Renewable Projects	Difficult
Luzon	Geothermal Fields	Viable
Sumatra/Java	Geothermal Belt	Difficult
Gobi Desert	Solar/Wind Export Project	Viable
Kachin State	Myitsone Dam	Forbidden
Irrawaddy	National Hydro Potential	Difficult

Oceania

Region	Asset	Verdict
New Zealand	Manapouri (South Island)	Viable
Queensland	Solar Belt (North QLD)	Viable
Western Australia	SWIS Grid Solar/Wind	Viable
New South Wales	Snowy 2.0	Watch
Tasmania	Hydro Tasmania Grid	Viable
Taupo	Tauhara Geothermal	Niche
Papua New Guinea	National Hydro Potential	Frontier

The Iron Cloud

The original research on stranded power assets and global hydroelectric potential.

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Citation

Richardson Dackam, "The Search for Gigawatts: Global Stranded Power Assets". Published online at Code & Capital. Retrieved from "https://ironcloud.richdackam.com" [online resource]. Accessed 3 Dec 2025.

BibTeX Citation

@misc{IronCloudTriangle2025,
  title = {"The Search for Gigawatts: Global Stranded Power Assets"},
  author = {Richardson Dackam},
  year = {2025},
  month = {12},
  url = {https://ironcloud.richdackam.com},
  note = {Accessed: 2025-12-03}
}