Australia’s Hunter Energy has signed a deal with IOT Group that could help resolve the country’s electricity problem. The agreement seeks to build a blockchain center inside the Redbank coal-fired power station. This blockchain center will provide cheap electricity for blockchain applications. Details of the Deal The deal will give Australia direct access to wholesale electricity prices. This will in turn reduce the additional costs from the retailer, transmission, and being connected to poles and wires. Overall, it could help reduce the cost of electricity in the country by up to 20 percent. Currently, in Australia, the average consumer spends about
Australia’s Hunter Energy has signed a deal with IOT Group that could help resolve the country’s electricity problem.
The agreement seeks to build a blockchain center inside the Redbank coal-fired power station. This blockchain center will provide cheap electricity for blockchain applications.
Details of the Deal
The deal will give Australia direct access to wholesale electricity prices. This will in turn reduce the additional costs from the retailer, transmission, and being connected to poles and wires. Overall, it could help reduce the cost of electricity in the country by up to 20 percent.
Currently, in Australia, the average consumer spends about 28 cents per kilowatt-hour. Thanks to the new deal, prices are expected to drop to a low of 8 cents per kilowatt-hour during the day and 5 cents at night.
Despite Australia’s favorable investment environment, many entrepreneurs and investors have had to pass on the market because of its high electricity prices.
The new blockchain center will offer transparency and accountability by keeping auditable records of all transactions and data movements.
Electric grids are not the only ones using blockchain technology to improve their operations. Oil companies have turned to blockchain applications to help with physical tracking, gas trading, and reducing operational risks.
In a statement, IOT Group Executive Director Sean Neylon said:
Blockchain processes used a lot of computing power and energy. The reasons why blockchain specialists are not in Australia is because power costs are too high, it’s not efficient. Power at wholesale cost would make blockchain related operations attractive in Australia.
According to Neylon, the purpose of the new blockchain center is to offer services so that clients from Australia and elsewhere can build data centers where they can get cheaper power.
In a statement, Jim Myatt, the chief executive of Hunter Energy, said that there are plans to reopen the Redbank coal-fired station that was closed in 2014. The reopening of the 150-megawatt power station is expected to start early next year. Myatt also announced plans to expand Redbank and have it operate using other sources of energy like solar power and batteries.
Pundits agree that the world is slowly waking up to the uses of blockchain technology. Salesforce, a global firm, is said to be looking at ways to set up its own cryptocurrency and blockchain.