In one of the latest crypto moves in Europe, Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary MMS has partnered with Bankhaus Metzler to pilot a Bitcoin mining project using surplus renewable energy in Germany.
The initiative aims to harness excess energy generated from renewable sources like wind and solar to power Bitcoin mining infrastructure, creating a potential new tool for balancing the energy grid.
This surplus power, often underutilized due to grid limitations and a lack of storage capacity, will fuel the mining project situated at Riva GmbH Engineering’s facility in Backnang, Germany.
MMS will manage the mining operations, while Bankhaus Metzler evaluates financial service applications for digital assets.
The project aims to gather field data and insights and demonstrate how surplus energy can be efficiently converted into digital assets, an approach they call “digital monetary photosynthesis.”
The project is expected to provide critical insights that could influence future Bitcoin mining applications in energy grid management.
Deutsche Telekom Bitcoin Mining: Balancing Renewable Energy Surplus
Germany’s increase in renewable energy sources has introduced challenges in balancing the national grid, as energy production varies significantly with weather patterns.
By converting surplus energy into Bitcoin, Deutsche Telekom MMS and Bankhaus Metzler hope to create a reliable method for managing fluctuations in energy availability.
With their capacity to adjust power usage quickly, Bitcoin miners offer a flexible load that can absorb surplus energy during production peaks, thus helping stabilize the grid.
This approach has already succeeded in countries like the United States and Finland, where Bitcoin mining is integrated into grid management.
The pilot is hosted by Metis Solutions GmbH, and the mining containers are set up at Riva GmbH, which generates its own electricity from an on-site photovoltaic system.
This setup is designed to transform excess energy into digital value while potentially reducing the strain on Germany’s grid during high-production periods.
According to Oliver Nyderle, head of Digital Trust and Web3 Infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom MMS, this flexible and responsive approach to grid regulation is becoming increasingly necessary as renewable energy sources expand. She emphasized;
“For this, we need mechanisms that can respond quickly to changes and absorb fluctuations.”
Bankhaus Metzler’s Exploration into Digital Asset Services
Bankhaus Metzler, Germany’s second-oldest bank, sees this project as a step toward advancing blockchain technology beyond traditional financial applications.
Through the pilot, the bank’s Digital Assets Office (DAO) is exploring the potential for financial services built around digital assets like Bitcoin.
Head of Digital Assets at Bankhaus Metzler, Hendrik König, also emphasized the growing importance of blockchain technology;
“Our goal is to gain experience in various application areas to further advance the innovative power of blockchain technology in Germany. [..] Blockchain technology is gaining increasing importance in operational business outside the financial industry.”
Notably, Riot Platforms, a crypto mining company, recently reported a massive 65% revenue increase in Q3 2024, reaching $84.8 million, largely due to its expanded hashrate of 28 EH/s.
This growth enabled Riot to mine 1,104 Bitcoin in the quarter despite the challenges posed by the recent Bitcoin halving.
However, the firm faced a net loss of $154 million due to reduced power credits, increased expenses, and halving impacts.
Riot’s energy efficiency, at 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, has helped it maintain a mining cost well below current market prices, supporting its overall resilience.
While Bitcoin mining activities are doing well, countries like Russia are actively moving the opposite.
A recent report shows that the country caps private crypto mining electricity usage at 6,000kWh per month, and even some regions are still actively banning crypto mining operations.
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