To conserve renewable energy, a Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) subsidiary is purportedly pursuing green Bitcoin mining.
Agile Energy X, a subsidiary of TEPCO based in Tokyo, is experimenting with utilizing waste solar energy to power Bitcoin mining machines.
According to Asahi Shimbun, the company’s president, Kenji Tateiwa, the success of this endeavor would “inspire the introduction of more green energy.”
He also mentioned that the concept was inspired by Japanese “output control” practices, which involve intentionally reducing renewable energy production below the maximum achievable level to balance supply and demand or comply with transmission constraints.
Agile Energy X has installed mining machines near solar farms in the prefectures of Gunma and Tochigi, located near Tokyo. The purpose of these machines is to capture and utilize potentially squandered energy.
In 2023, the Asahi Shimbun reported that 1,920 gigawatt-hours of power were subject to output control throughout Japan, equivalent to the annual power consumption of 450,000 households.
In the interim, Agile Energy’s simulations indicated that the annual waste of 240,000 gigawatt-hours could occur due to curtailment if renewable energy comprised 50% of Japan’s power supply.
The company predicted that using 10% of this surplus power for Bitcoin mining could produce approximately $2.5 billion (360 billion yen) in BTC annually.
Tateiwa stated that introducing additional renewable energy could be facilitated if BTC mining were to generate profits that could be included in corporate earnings.
Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings, expressed his opinion in an X post that shared the report: “Perhaps US utilities should wake up and smell the roses.”
“While the European Union has been conducting a campaign to discredit Bitcoin, Japan has been researching the subject,” stated ESG advocate and researcher Daniel Batten.
In the United States, crypto mining firms utilize comparable incentives, particularly in Texas, a state leader in extracting renewable energy for grid balancing.
