Mining hardware producer Canaan won a contract to supply 4.5 megawatts (MW) of Bitcoin mining application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for a project designed to help stabilize Japan’s electric grid.
According to a Thursday announcement, the company will supply an electrical engineering solutions provider Bitcoin mining ASICs with a capacity of 4.5 MW. The project will deploy Canaan’s new Avalon A1566HA-488T water-cooled mining ASICs for “real-time grid balancing and energy-efficiency optimization,” Canaan said.
The mining operation will run continuously and utilize controlled overclocking and underclocking, adjusting power consumption to stabilize the regional grid load. Canaan’s proprietary control systems will dynamically adjust frequency, voltage and hashrate to match power supply and demand.
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Canaan chairman and CEO Nangeng Zhang said with machines and this system, “utilities can leverage Bitcoin mining as a digital load balancer, improving both energy sustainability and grid efficiency.” He added that “this project builds on a similar initiative we supported in the Netherlands last year.”
Crypto mining as grid load balancing
Grid load balancing is the continuous matching of electricity supply and demand to keep frequency and voltage within safe limits. There is a need for such a measure because consumption and renewable output fluctuate significantly, leading to price spikes and potential outages if left unaddressed.
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Crypto mining helps by acting as a fast, controllable demand response. Miners can locate near wind or solar installations and ramp up to soak up unnecessary surplus power and shut down in seconds when the grid tightens.
Earlier this week, the CEO of Brazilian solar power producer Thopen said that the company is exploring a move into Bitcoin mining to absorb surplus energy generated by the country’s fast-growing renewable sector. A January report by the Digital Assets Research Institute also suggested that Bitcoin mining has impacted the Texas electrical grid and saved the state as much as $18 billion by eliminating the need for new gas peaker plants.
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