Agile Energy X Leverages Bitcoin Mining to Combat Renewable Energy Waste in Japan

Agile Energy X Inc., a branch of Tokyo Electric Power Co., is diving into Bitcoin mining. Their goal? To cut down on wasted renewable energy and encourage its use.

Based in Tokyo, this subsidiary plans to harness renewable energy for Bitcoin mining. This process creates new units of Bitcoin and puts them into circulation, as reported by Asahi Shimbun.

Kenji Tateiwa, the president of Agile Energy X, explained that this initiative came about due to “output control” measures from Kyushu Electric Power Co. This means that renewable energy producers have to adjust their output or even stop generating power to avoid oversupply. Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of wasted energy.

To tackle this issue, Agile Energy X has set up mining machines near solar farms. They’ll mine Bitcoin when energy production exceeds demand, preventing waste.

Tateiwa stated, “What we are doing has few parallels in Japan.”

Fred Thiel, CEO of Marathon Digital, praised this move. He remarked, “Innovative Japanese utility company mines Bitcoin to utilize surplus energy…maybe US utilities should wake up and smell the roses.”

This concept isn’t just unique to Japan. In the U.S., particularly in Texas, miners often turn on their operations when there’s excess electricity. They can also scale back quickly when demand rises.

For instance, Bitcoin miners in Texas helped stabilize the power grid during heat waves in June 2022 and September 2023. Their ability to reduce operations quickly prevented blackouts, showing how cryptocurrency mining can work hand in hand with power grid management.

As of now, Bitcoin is trading at $57,044.71, up 3.08% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. Ethereum is priced at $2,286.01, with a slight increase of 0.15%.