Distribution Transformer Loss-of- Life Assessment in the Presence of Cryptocurrency Mining Loads

Abstract

By privatization and deregulation, distribution transformers have gradually been pushed further into their operating limits. Under these circumstances, in countries with cheap or subsidized electricity price, the introduction of profitable cryptocurrencies application is deeply penetrated. It has attracted many low-voltage customers to mine these digital currencies individually or in mining pools. The employed mining devices with their own unique constant load profile have escalated the coincident factor of the loads supplied by a transformer. This can highly overload the transformers engaged with loads of this type and, in the long term will cause destructive impacts not only on the transformer also on the distribution facilities. This paper studies the adverse effect of cryptocurrency mining loads on the distribution transformer aging. At first, the customer's profit analysis through mining operation has been introduced, realizing different electric energy pricing strategies. Finally, 105 real-world distribution substations have been monitored over one year, and their actual load profiles data are recorded for analysis. A relation between the penetration rate of the mining devices and the transformer's expected lifetime is determined in this work. It is shown that the distribution transformers' expected lifetime will decrease by 25% in the presence of only a 5% penetration rate of cryptocurrency miners. This is an alarming statistic for distribution networks operating under the presence of cryptocurrency mining loads. This should be strictly addressed in the future planning of these distribution networks.