The University of Tokyo, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota Motor Corporation and Japanese online renewable energy retailer Trende Inc. plan to jointly conduct tests for a blockchain-powered electricity system. The news was revealed in an official Toyota press release on May 23. The pilot, scheduled for June 17, will reportedly test a peer-to-peer electricity system that allows homes, enterprises and electronic vehicles that are connected to the power grid to trade electricity using blockchain. The initiative will reportedly be focused on Toyota's Higashifuji Technical Center and the surrounding area. As the press release outlines, with distributed power supplies — including solar …

Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Hut 8 has reportedly laid off employees at its facilities in the province of Alberta, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports April 4. Hut 8’s crypto mining facilities in Drumheller and Medicine Hat are part of a joint venture with European crypto mining hardware firm Bitfury. A former employee at the Drumheller facility told the CBC that he was laid off along with two dozen colleagues in January. He reportedly stated that the company reduced its staff by around 25% globally at the time, while teams in Alberta have faced even bigger layoffs. The cuts …

Wien Energie, the largest energy provider in Austria, has announced a charger for electric cars based on distributed ledger technology (DLT), Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports on March 29. Per an official press release, Wien Energie in partnership with blockchain tech firm Riddle & Code are testing an electric vehicle charging station with “integrated secure machine identity” in Vienna. The new machines purportedly aim to provide immutable data interfaces that connect various aspects of the power supply chain, including smart meters, producers and consumers. In its initial stages, the station will purportedly allow real-time settlement of charging transactions. Once the system …

Major United Kingdom energy company OVO has invested in blockchain firm Electron through its recently launched technology division, Kaluza. The development was announced in an OVO blog post published on March 12. Kaluza — an intelligent grid technology company that provides software and hardware products to the energy sector — has reportedly made an investment in Electron, a London-based energy tech company that uses blockchain technology. The move aims to facilitate Electron’s deployment of distributed energy trading platforms. Electron will purportedly use the proceeds of the investment to develop its energy platforms and systems, or its distributed flexibility marketplace. “The …

Thai petroleum refining firm Bangchak Corporation Public Co. Limited (BCP) is testing a blockchain-based energy trading platform and commercial microgrid, distributed energy news site Microgrid Knowledge reports on March 7. BCP is testing the new platform at a shopping mall attached to one of its fuel stations in Bangkok. The new system will purportedly combine 280.9 kW of commercial rooftop and canopy solar photovoltaics with 913 kWh of lithium-ion, nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide and 92 kWh of lithium-iron-phosphate battery energy storage capacity. In other words, the microgrid generation and distribution platform will support the basic electricity needs of an average BCP fuel …

In the German city of Klingenthal, Saxony, police have arrested a group of suspects for stealing electricity to operate a cryptocurrency mining farm, Cointelegraph auf Deutsch reports Feb. 6. Police officers reportedly tracked down a system of 49 computers operating in the premises of former electrical services company PGH Elektro. Since at least 2017, the mining farm has reportedly consumed as much electricity as 30 households, with the damage for the affected electricity supplier estimated to around 220,000 euros ($250,053). Per local news site FreiePresse, 30 of the 49 computers were equipped with special cryptocurrency mining hardware, with a total …

Japanese IT firm Fujitsu has successfully trialed a blockchain-based solution to address inefficiencies in electricity surplus management, the company confirmed in a press release on Jan. 29. Fujitsu, which partnered with local power distribution company ENERES, used blockchain to increase the success rates of power sharing, which is administered through a process known as Demand Response (DR). An agreement between utilities companies and consumers, DR aims to anticipate periods of peak demand by ensuring surplus power is available to those who need it. The current technology involved makes DR an inefficient mechanism, Fujitsu says, something which blockchain has demonstrably helped …

A startup has unveiled bold plans to tackle the excessive levels of energy consumption seen in cryptocurrency mining, all while giving everyday computer users more of a chance to receive block rewards. Resistance argues that proof-of-work mining “has been hijacked by huge mining farms using tons of energy to take control of the market” — isolating normal consumers who cannot afford to get involved with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The company also says the levels of electricity being used is “wasted on mathematical equations” rather than making a positive impact on humanity. As a result, Resistance is seeking to address …

The government of the Republic of Abkhazia has cut power to some cryptocurrency mining farms due to electricity concerns, state electric utility Chernomorenergo RUE announced in a Facebook post on Dec. 31. Per the announcement, Chernomorenergo cut power to 15 facilities with a total capacity of 8,950 kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is purportedly equivalent to the electricity consumption of 1,800 households. The cuts were made as part of a series of “temporary measures to limit the consumption of electricity by certain categories of subscribers." Chernomorenergo also notes that, following the cuts, owners of the mining farms showed understanding and collaboration. Regulators …

Iranians are turning to Bitcoin (BTC) mining due to economic difficulties caused by sanctions by the United States, international affairs think tank Atlantic Council reported Dec. 17. Despite the recent crash in crypto markets and fluctuations in the national rial currency caused by recently reinforced U.S. sanctions, Iranian people are still reportedly managing to gain profits from mining Bitcoin. As reported by Atlantic Council, 26-year-old Iranian Ali Hosseini and his cousin Pedram Ghasemi bought a Bitcoin mining device, an Antminer S9, two months ago for $526, when the top cryptocurrency was trading around $6,500. Despite the U.S. dollar reportedly soaring …

South Korea’s government will spend 4 billion Korean won (KRW) (about $3.5 million) to set up a blockchain-enabled virtual power plant (VPP) in the city of Busan. The development was reported by South Korean newspaper Yonhap News Agency on Monday, Dec. 10. Busan, South Korea’s second most populous city after Seoul, has announced that the city administration has selected a project to support an innovative energy industry in the region by building a VPP based on a citizens-shared blockchain. The project will reportedly be represented at a national competition in 2019 hosted by the largest electric utility in South Korea, …

Canadian blockchain and cryptocurrency company DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. has energized its new crypto mining facility, according to an announcement published Nov. 8. DMG states that the facility will start at 60 megawatts, and can expand its capacity up to 85 megawatts. DMG Blockchain Solutions initially revealed its plans to launch the station in July, stating that their crypto mining operation will be implemented on an industrial scale with direct support from the local government and electricity providers. The station will purportedly increase DMG’s hosting capability by more than 20 times. Per the recent statement, the 27,000 square foot crypto …