The Russian prime minister has welcomed an initiative to use blockchain in agreements over gas supplies by the country’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom, local finance news outlet Vestifinance reports on April 4. The news agency operates under Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR), a major TV channel. The head of Russia’s state-owned gas giant Gazprom, Alexey Miller, has met with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev to report on the development of applications powered by distributed ledger technology (DLT). According to Miller, Gazprom has carried out substantive work with Russia’s state-owned bank Gazprombank, and has developed a prototype model that …

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 States energy firm Ameren and Canadian software engineering and solutions company Opus One Solutions will explore the potential use of blockchain technology. The participants announced the news in a press release on March 28. Ameren, which currently services around 2.4 million electric and 900,000 gas consumers, will examine blockchain as one of a range of options in its clean energy initiative. As of May 2018, Ameren was listed among the top 20 U.S. gas and electric utility firms, based on market value. Blockchain is set to feature in the firms’ so-called Transactive Energy Marketplace (TEM), a microgrid built …

Cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain is reportedly planning to set up 200,000 units of mining equipment in China to benefit from low-cost hydroelectric power in the country, crypto media outlet CoinDesk reported on March 21. A source from China familiar with the matter reportedly told CoinDesk that Bitmain will install 200,000 units of their own mining machines to take advantage of cheap hydroelectric power costs during the summer following the excessive rains in southwestern China. The mining equipment is estimated at around $80 million to $100 million. The crypto mining giant has reportedly entered into negotiations and started making deals with …

Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Joseph Lubin said that he expects the global economy will be 10 times larger in 10 to 20 years, when blockchain is fully ramified, and blockchain will be involved in most of it. Lubin made the statement at the SXSW conference in Austin on March 14. During the same keynote, Lubin also pointed out that just as nowadays there aren’t many “normal” people using blockchain-based systems, “there weren’t a lot of ‘normal’ people firing email around in 1983.” He also reiterated the promises of Ethereum 2.0, stating that there are a lot of inefficiencies present in Bitcoin …

Renewable energy will not solve Bitcoin’s (BTC) sustainability problem according to a blockchain specialist at Big Four auditing company PwC, Alex de Vries. De Vries presented his argument in a study published in sustainable energy journal Cell on March 14. The research cites estimates from de Vries’ website, according to which Bitcoin consumed anywhere from 40 terawatt hours (TWh) to 62.3 TWh throughout 2018. According to the paper, this is on par with the energy consumption of countries like Hungary (40.3 TWH) and Switzerland (62.1 TWh). De Vries quotes research published in 2014 that estimates that the energy consumption of …

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 …

Blockchain can make the infrastructure of new renewable energy markets across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) more secure, resilient and cost-efficient, experts from United States-based tech consultancy firm Booz Allen Hamilton have said. Middle East business news site Al Bawaba reported the news on March 4. The GCC — a regional political and economic union that includes all the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except Iraq — reportedly aims to install 80 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy capacity across its six member states by 2030, set to account for over half of the union’s existing conventional capacity. In light …

Japan’s solar power supplier Kyocera has partnered with LO3 Energy to test blockchain-based virtual power plants (VPP) for improved energy distribution, according to a press release published on Feb. 25. Scheduled for Feb. 28, 2019, the test will allow the companies to evaluate the the feasibility of VPPs that promote a low-carbon society without fuels or carbon emissions based on peer-to-peer (P2P) distributed consensus network. Within the joint project, Kyocera — which has 81.79 billion yen ($736 million) in net income — will set up small VPPs using its solar photovoltaic (PV) modules and batteries, while New York-based LO3 Energy …

Spanish cryptocurrency mining startup CryptoSolarTech will return $68 million raised during its initial coin offering (ICO). A screenshot of an official letter sent to investors was posted on Twitter Wednesday, Feb. 20 by Spanish IT lawyer Sergio Carrasco. CryptoSolarTech apparently aimed to build a crypto mining facility powered by solar energy in Southern Spain, but failed to get a building permit. Citing reasons beyond their control, the founders of the project promised to return funds within 60 days. The startup also claimed that it is not responsible for any of the tokens purchased after Feb. 19. In June 2018, CryptoSolarTech …

Japanese general trading company Marubeni Corporation has partnered with a New York-based blockchain startup to use the technology for its energy business, Marubeni confirmed in a press release on Feb. 20. Marubeni, which has expanded beyond Japan into the United States as well as Europe, selected LO3 Energy’s transactive energy platform as the basis for an ongoing pilot project. The Japanese firm is the country’s fifth largest sōgō shōsha — a type of Japanese company that trades in a variety of products and materials. Using blockchain, the aim of the partnership is to increase automation and efficiency in Marubeni’s renewable …