Canaan Wins 4.5 MW Japan Contract for Mining-Powered Grid Balancing

Canaan Inc. announced on Oct. 30 a 4.5-megawatt sales contract to deploy its Avalon A1566HA hydro-cooled mining servers for real-time grid balancing in Japan. The Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer will provide equipment to support power-grid stabilization for a regional utility.

An electrical engineering solutions provider contracted with Canaan to operate the mining servers, which will help manage load fluctuations at a facility led by a major Japanese utility, according to a company statement. The deployment is scheduled to begin by the end of 2025.

Grid Balancing Technology

The Avalon servers will operate continuously through controlled overclocking and underclocking to respond to fluctuations in the grid. Each unit delivers 480 to 500 terahashes per second, with a power consumption of 8,064 watts, and operates at an efficiency of 16.8 joules per terahash.

Canaan’s intelligent control chip enables the system to adjust frequency, voltage, and hashrate using feedback algorithms, allowing the mining equipment to function as what the company describes as a digital load balancer.

Nangeng Zhang, chairman and CEO of Canaan, stated the project builds on a similar initiative the company supported in the Netherlands last year. Zhang noted that residential power consumption, AI computing, and high-density data centers are placing increasing pressure on national power systems across Asia, North America, and Europe.

Japan’s Crypto Policy Context

The initiative aligns with proposed changes to Japan’s digital asset regulations. Lawmakers are considering measures to reclassify crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.

Other proposed reforms include introducing a flat 20% tax on crypto gains, expanding bank participation in digital-asset services, and authorizing regulated financial institutions to hold crypto assets directly. Financial institutions are preparing for these changes, with TIS’s token platform launch enabling Japanese banks to issue stablecoins and security tokens on Oct. 28.

The deployment builds on Canaan’s other energy-focused initiatives, such as Canaan’s flared gas project in Calgary, which converts waste natural gas into electricity for mining operations. The initiative comes as crypto mining companies face growing competition from AI infrastructure, with firms like Galaxy Digital converting mining facilities to AI data centers.

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