Deutsche Telekom has made several notable announcements in the renewable sector over 2024.
Deutsche Telekom has launched a pilot project to operate bitcoin mining infrastructure with surplus renewable energy that would have remained unused due to a lack of grid infrastructure.
DT’s IT service and IT consulting subsidiary MMS is launching the project in partnership with German banking firm Bankhaus Metzler.
Metis Solutions will manage the pilot project. The mining containers are located on the premises of Riva GmbH Engineering, a manufacturer of metal and glass facades, in Backnang, Germany.
The company premises have onsite solar generation that the pilot project will utilise to power the Bitcoin mining infrastructure.
Telekom MMS (previously known as T-Systems Multimedia Solutions) will control the operation of the devices, and Bankhaus Metzler will explore further possibilities for financial services with digital assets through the pilot project.
“Together with Bankhaus Metzler and RIVA Engineering GmbH, we are taking a step in this direction to test the regulatory effect of Bitcoin miners in the energy grid. Surplus energy is converted into digital values through the miners. We call this digital monetary photosynthesis,” said Oliver Nyderle, Head of Digital Trust & Web3 Infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom MMS.
Since 2022, non-compensated grid curtailment has significantly impacted renewable energy across Europe. In Germany, 19TWh of energy was curtailed, representing four percent of the country’s annual electricity generation.
The German Federal Network Agency has warned that building wind turbines relatively far away from energy consumption centres contributed to the high need for re-dispatch measures, as long-distance power transmission lines are among the most overburdened parts of the power grid.
As a result, Bitcoin miners have championed their service to provide flexible generation options for stranded renewable assets. Due to the flexible load it can provide, MMS claimed Bitcoin mining “could play an important role in balancing supply and demand in the energy grid in the future.”
It argued that wind and solar developers “could benefit from this technology” as they often face the challenge of “unpredictable” power markets. This week has seen Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $75,000 per coin.
Deutsche Telekom has made several notable announcements in the renewable sector over 2024. In June, it signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to procure wind energy in Romania. The PPAs will see three of the company’s subsidiaries buy 100GWh of clean power per year for 12 years.
Deutsche Telekom has previously signed a 150 MW wind PPA with Statkraft and a 100MW wind PPA with EnBW, both in Germany.
