Japanese renewable energy supplier helps mining farms! Will provide low-cost electricity

Looop, a Japanese renewable energy provider, has announced a power plan to reduce costs for Bitcoin and other digital currency miners by offering parity power if electricity usage reaches a certain level within the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s service area.

Miners can get affordable electricity

Looop Co., Ltd. is a renewable energy provider based in Tokyo, providing natural energy products and services as well as retail electricity services. The company's website states: "We are determined to build photovoltaic power plants in the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake for the public good." The company began operations in March 2011 as "we have the ability to install photovoltaic power plants." The company's other products include solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric and geothermal power systems.

Looop entered the retail electricity market when Japan opened up its retail electricity market in April 2016. According to IT Media, more than 55,000 Japanese households have used Looop's electricity services.

The company recently unveiled a new electricity plan tailored specifically for miners in the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) service area. Looop calls it the "Mining Parity Electricity" plan. The company said customers can start applying for the new service this month.

Looop explained that customers can sign up for a "1kW equivalent contract (10A or 1kVA)" that allows them to use up to 250 kWh of electricity for a fixed monthly fee of 6,170 yen. They can also sign up for multiple contracts. For example, a 3kW contract allows them to use up to 750 kWh of electricity. Excess charges are just 22 yen per kWh.

The monthly electricity bill for the 3-kW contract is 16.9 percent lower than what TEPCO charges for similar service, according to IT Media estimates.

Japan is embracing Bitcoin mining

As more and more companies enter this field, more and more companies are also involved in Bitcoin mining. Last month, GMO Internet announced its Bitcoin mining and ASIC chip manufacturing plan. The company invested 10 billion yen to open its own mining farm in Scandinavia.

Another Japanese conglomerate, DMM Group, also announced in the same month that it would “operate a large-scale, high-quality mining farm in Japan, with the best operating scale compared to any domestic operator.” DMM also plans to invest 10 billion yen in its mining operations, according to the Nikkei.

Last week, the outlet also reported that two other large companies, SBI Holdings and Monex Group, had also started their own Bitcoin mining operations.

Ichiro Nakamura, director and general manager of the central bank, stressed that Bitcoin mining uses a lot of electricity. IT media quoted him as saying: "High electricity costs are a bottleneck for the development of mining farms in Japan, which makes it difficult for mining to expand the domestic market. By providing this pricing plan, it can strongly support domestic mining companies."

Meanwhile, Japanese consumers can also pay their electricity bills with Bitcoin. Recently, Remixpoint, the parent company of Bitcoin exchange Bitpoint, began accepting Bitcoin to pay for low-voltage electricity services and offered discounts to customers who paid with Bitcoin.