A Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) subsidiary is going into Bitcoin mining as a way to reduce the amount of renewable energy that is reportedly lost.
The company wants to encourage the broad use of Bitcoin mining and discourage wasteful usage of renewable energy through curtailment.
Agile Energy X, a TEPCO subsidiary based in Tokyo, is testing the use of waste solar energy to power Bitcoin mining equipment valued at BT$54,710; the company’s president, Kenji Tateiwa, stated that the company’s success “would prompt more green energy to be introduced,” as reported by the Asahi Shimbun on September 8.
He continued by saying that the idea was inspired by Japanese “output control” techniques, which include purposefully reducing the amount of renewable energy produced below what may have been to balance supply and demand or comply with transmission limitations.
Agile Energy X has placed mining equipment following solar farms in the prefectures of Gunma and Tochigi, located near Tokyo, to capture and utilize potentially squandered energy.
According to Asahi Shimbun, in 2023, 1,920 gigawatt-hours of power—roughly equivalent to 450,000 families’ yearly power consumption—were subject to output regulation nationwide.
Agile Energy’s models revealed that 240,000 gigawatt-hours may be lost yearly through curtailment if renewable energy were to supply 50% of Japan’s electricity.
According to the company, mining Bitcoin with 10% of this excess power might bring in about $2.5 billion (360 billion yen) in revenue annually.
Tateiwa stated that if proceeds from Bitcoin mining were to be included in company profits, more green energy might be introduced.
The chairman and CEO of Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital Holdings, Fred Thiel, stated in an X post that included the story that “Maybe US utilities should wake up and smell the roses.”
ESG advocate and researcher Daniel Batten continued, “While the EU has been busy gaslighting Bitcoin, Japan has been researching it.”
Crypto mining companies in the US, mainly in Texas, a top state for renewable energy that may be used for grid balancing, are employing similar incentives.