According to the Asahi Shimbun, Agile Energy Kenji Tateiwa, President of Agile Energy X, said: “If our framework is successful, it will promote the introduction of more green energy.”

Tateiwa was inspired for the initiative in 2018 when questions were raised about the massive “power output control” implemented by Kyushu Electric Power Company. According to reports, electricity supply is always balanced with demand, as imbalances between supply and demand may disrupt the frequency of the power system, thereby triggering large-scale power outages. Therefore, Kyushu Electric requires renewable energy producers in its service area to control their output or temporarily stop power generation to prevent oversupply, which is usually when PV generation peaks during the day.

This means valuable power generation capacity also has to be wasted.

When Tateiwa came up with the idea in 2018, Bitcoin’s popularity was undergoing a collapse. Cryptocurrencies were criticized globally at the time for reports of wasted electricity, with Bitcoin mining using more electricity than a European country consumes in a year, according to some estimates. Tateiwa therefore thought of combining the two.

Actual cases

Agile Energy The company has installed mining machines in Gunma and Tochigi prefectures in Japan, including next to a solar farm.

The output restrictions pioneered by Kyushu Electric Power have so far been extended to nine regional power companies in Japan except TEPCO. Simulations conducted by Agile Energy Such surplus power is too large to be stored in batteries in reality.

Agile Energy Tateiwa said that he believes that if the profits generated by Bitcoin mining can be included in corporate profits, this will stabilize corporate operations and promote the introduction of more green energy.

A growing number of businesses in the US state of Texas are mining Bitcoin using green energy that cannot be transmitted to areas of demand and would otherwise be wasted, pushing the United States to the world's leading position in Bitcoin mining volume.

Profit prospects

As it stands, Japan’s output-controlled electricity is still too little to guarantee the profitability of using the remaining power to mine Bitcoin. However, Tateiwa said that as more green energy is introduced and more surplus power becomes available, similar practices are expected to become profitable.

“Green energy producers must take into account that some electricity will be wasted in their business operations.” Tateiwa said: “If Bitcoin can provide a new source of income for similar electricity producers facing over-investment, it will promote the development of more green energy. Introduction.

Source