The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a grant worth $1.05 million to organizations working to commercialize a blockchain-based energy transaction platform. From energy management to energy exchange The news comes from an August 9 press release shared by energy company ComEd, one of the grant’s four reported recipient organizations. The others are the University of Denver, Virginia Tech and BEM Controls, a company specializing in energy management software. The new project is reportedly a continuation of BEM Controls’ existing DOE-funded work on software to enhance energy efficiency in buildings. This latest grant is to expand and promote …

Authorities raided Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in Malaysia after finding that they were stealing electricity resulting in a loss of 3.2 million Malaysian ringgit ($760,736) to the utility company. 33 facilities illegally mining Bitcoin Malaysian major electric utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) fell victim to an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation, which resulted in a $760,736 loss, local media organization Malay Mail reported on Aug. 7. After revealing the malpractice, the company raided 33 premises located near the state capital of Pahang, Kuantan. Distributing network general manager Siti Sarah Johana Mohd said that the facilities had been mining Bitcoin for six …

Marubeni Corp., a major Japanese sōgō shōsha, or general trading company, is now backing a blockchain-based power trading platform. Per a report by Reuters on July 23, Marubeni has issued a loan to Lithuania-based blockchain project WePower. According to Reuters, the size of Marubeni’s stake in WePower after converting the loan is yet to be determined. WePower has reportedly developed a platform which allows small- and medium-sized enterprises to more easily buy power specifically from wind- and solar-based sources via standardized digital power purchase agreements. The platform aims to unlock tens of billions of dollars in power generation to smaller …

The Iranian Economic Commission has reportedly finalized a tariff scheme for cryptocurrency miners, according to a July 21 report from Iranian economic daily Financial Tribune. Per the report, Energy Minister Homayoon Ha’eri announced that, while the tariff scheme has been finalized, it is awaiting approval from the Cabinet of Iran — a governmental body consisting of various ministers and other officials chosen by the president. While Ha’eri did not elaborate on the exact price scheme, he stated that the price is dependent on market factors such as fuel prices in the Persian Gulf. The head of Iran Electrical Industry Syndicate, …

Police in China arrested 22 suspects allegedly involved in illegal crypto mining activity that led to energy loss worth of about $3 million, reports XinhuaNet, the official press agency of China, on July 12. Police in Jiangsu, China’s eastern-central coastal province, have reportedly seized 4,000 hardware units that were illegally used to mine cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin (BTC) at nine factories. According to the report, Jiangsu police launched a criminal investigation after a local power firm reported an abnormal spike in electricity consumption. After almost two months of investigation, the police in the city of Zhenjiang in Jiangsu detected a …

Academic researchers at the University of Cambridge (UoC) have launched a real-time index that tracks the total electricity consumption of the Bitcoin network. The news was revealed in an announcement posted by the university’s interdisciplinary academic research institute, the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), on July 2. The now-live Index — the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, or CBECI — gives an estimate of the total annualized energy consumption of the bitcoin network, updated every thirty seconds. The researchers also provide a tool that compares BTC’s consumption levels with other electricity use case, alongside a range of parameters to …

United States-based clean energy development firm Clearway Energy Group is launching a pilot program for trading renewable energy credits on a blockchain, Bloomberg reported on June 28. Per the report, Clearway Energy partnered with Ethereum (ETH)-based energy trading startup Power Ledger to jointly build a system for trading renewable energy certificates. Power Ledger reportedly told Bloomberg that initially the solution will be tested in Massachusetts, generating one to five megawatts of electricity, while the second test will take place in the Midwest and generate upwards of 20 megawatts. The report further notes that the U.S. renewable energy certificates market is …

Authorities in Iran have confiscated about 1,000 units of bitcoin (BTC) mining machines from two now-defunct factories, BBC reported on June 28 As reported, local authorities noticed a surge in electricity consumption by 7% earlier in June and linked it to cryptocurrency mining activities. Officials subsequently discovered and removed the mining hardware from two former factories. Arash Navab, an electricity official, reportedly said that "two of these bitcoin farms have been identified, with a consumption of one megawatt." An Oxford researcher told the BBC that Iranians are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a means of skirting sanctions. Cointelegraph …

The Iranian government will be cutting off power to crypto mining until new energy prices are approved, according to a report by local news agency Iran Daily on June 24. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, an official at Iran’s Ministry of Energy, reportedly revealed that the country has seen a 7% spike of electricity consumption over a monthly period ending on June 21, 2019. Rajabi emphasized the unusual nature of the spike, as opposed to similar time spans in the past years, revealing that the country’s power grid had evidently become unstable. According to the official, the Iranian Ministry of Energy believes …

Blockchain-based energy trading firm Power Ledger will roll out its peer-to-peer (P2P) network in Graz, the second-largest city in Austria, according to an announcement on June 18. The Australia-based company has partnered with E-NEXT, an innovation arm of major Austria’s energy utility Energie Steiermark, to launch its blockchain-powered energy trading platform in and around Graz. The initiative is an attempt to optimize energy distribution and to contribute to the city's transition towards zero-carbon energy, the release notes. As such, Power Ledger’s technology is expected to enable rooftop solar energy-based households in the city to sell excess renewable energy to their …

Police in China have reportedly gathered evidence of people laying cables via fish ponds to steal oil well power to fuel their bitcoin (BTC) mining. The news was reported by daily Chinese tabloid The Global Times on June 13. The Global Times is published under the auspices of state-backed newspaper group The People’s Daily. The report outlines that the Green Grassland Police Station of the Qiqihar District Public Security Bureau were alerted to the alleged power theft after receiving a call from the head of oil production at Daqing Oil Field — the largest oil field in China, located in …

The state authorities of China’s Sichuan province will investigate local bitcoin (BTC) mining farms that have been allegedly been built illegally, local media agency Sina reports on May 30. Located at the bitcoin “global mining capital” of Sichuan, the bitcoin mining farms with over 30,000 bitcoin mining machines have been reportedly constructed without an official approval from the local government, and are thus subject for further examination. Specifically, the alleged illegal mining farms are located along the Sichuan’s Dadu river, a major Chinese river that will host the world's biggest embankment dam called Shuang Jiang Kou, which is currently under …