Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telecommunications provider, has announced a pilot project to power Bitcoin mining infrastructure using surplus renewable energy. This initiative is a collaboration between Deutsche Telekom’s MMS and Bankhaus Metzler, with the aim of making use of excess electricity that may remain unused due to network constraints or lack of storage solutions.
Deutsche Telekom starts mining Bitcoin
With the increasing integration of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar into the power grid, power production has become more erratic, leading to challenges in grid stability. The pilot project seeks to address this problem by converting excess energy into digital assets through Bitcoin mining, a process known for its high energy consumption. “This regulatory power through Bitcoin mining is already being successfully exercised in other countries (including the USA and Finland). The pilot project aims to validate the process for Germany.” advertisement Countries.
“Given the flexible load, Bitcoin miners can play an important role in balancing supply and demand in the energy grid in the future,” the companies added in their joint announcement. “Excess energy is converted into digital values by miners. We call this digital cash photosynthesis,” said Oliver Naederle, Head of Digital Trust and Web3 Infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom MMS.
Bitcoin miner hosting is managed by Metis Solutions GmbH from Dresden. The mining containers are located at the headquarters of Riva GmbH Engineering in Backnang, a metal and glass facade manufacturer that operates its own photovoltaic system. This setup allows the project to utilize on-site renewable energy for mining operations.
Deutsche Telekom MMS, leveraging years of experience in Web3 infrastructure, oversees the operation of the mining rigs. Bankhaus Metzler contributes by defining testing processes, analyzing data evaluations, and further exploring the possibilities of financial services using Bitcoin through the pilot program.
Bankhaus Metzler, a private bank founded in 1674, has shown a growing interest in blockchain technology. “Our goal is to gain expertise in different application areas to further strengthen the innovative power of blockchain technology in Germany,” said Hendrik König, Head of the Digital Assets Office at Bankhaus Metzler. “Blockchain technology is gaining increasing importance in operational businesses outside the financial industry – a trusted financial partner is indispensable for managing cryptocurrency assets.”
The pilot program aims to provide valid field data and insights for planning subsequent projects, and potentially provide solutions to stabilize the power grid during fluctuations that stress the system. This approach could benefit renewable energy producers who face challenges related to unpredictable regulatory power.
Notably, Deutsche Telekom has been involved in the cryptocurrency ecosystem since 2020. Deutsche Telekom MMS provides the infrastructure for various decentralized protocols in the Web3 sector, including Chainlink, Fetch.ai, and Polygon. In 2023, Deutsche Telekom expanded its portfolio by running a Bitcoin node.
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $69,250.
Featured image created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com