“Fukushima operator invests in German start-up”

German energy start-up Conjoule is set to receive about 3.5 million euros from controversial Japanese nuclear plant operator Tepco, Jana Kugoth writes in Welt Online. The operator of the notorious Fukushima nuclear plant, which was severely damaged by an earthquake and a tsunami in 2011, invests in the spin-off of renewable utility innogy to benefit from Conjoule’s experiences in blockchain technology and digital energy services, Kugoth says. Japan’s energy market has recently been opened for non-public investors, “which elevates the interest in innovation and development of decentralised and digital energy services,” Conjoule co-founder Sam Warburton said. Blockchain technology helps private house owners sell privately generated power, for example from rooftop solar panels, Kugoth explains.

Read the article in German here.

For background, read the CLEW dossier The challenges of Germany’s nuclear phase-out and the CLEW article Looking back: Germany five years after Fukushima.