Authorities in Iran have revised some rules for the crypto
mining industry in order to facilitate its access to green power.
Licensed miners will now be able to purchase electricity produced from
renewable sources from across the country at lower rates.
Cryptocurrency Miners in Iran Allowed to Source Green Energy From Across Country
Iran’s Ministry of Energy has changed certain crypto mining
regulations to ease access to renewable power for entities authorized to
mint digital currencies in the Islamic Republic.
A recently issued decree relieves miners from the obligation to use
on-site power generation capacities and permits them to buy electricity
from renewables from across the country and through the national grid,
Bargqnews unveiled.
Until now, mining enterprises could only sign contracts with
renewable power plants located in the same province, pointed out
Mohammad Khodadadi, an official at the Iran Power Generation,
Transmission and Distribution Company (Tavanir).
Quoted by the English-language business news daily Financial Tribune,
the report also revealed that Iranian firms mining legally with clean
energy will not be charged the regular transmission fees for using the
country’s electricity network.
The positive changes for the mining sector come after in December Iranian authorities announced
a decision to allow power plants producing green energy to supply
licensed miners. That change was an initiative of the energy ministry in
Tehran.
Iran has been experiencing power shortages during the hot and dry
summers and cold winter months and partially blamed the energy-intensive
bitcoin mining for the deficit. In 2021, registered crypto farms were
ordered to shut down their power-hungry equipment on more than one
occasion.
This year, Tavanir again told miners to suspend activities
until the end of the summer, citing expected electricity shortages amid
rising demand due to increased consumption for cooling. The
restrictions sparked negative reactions from the country’s crypto community.
The state-owned utility also vowed to impose severe measures against
unlicensed cryptocurrency miners, raising fines for illegal mining
activities by 400%. According to official data released in May, the
Iranian government had identified and closed down almost 7,000 facilities minting digital coins outside the law.
Such improvised crypto farms are often powered with subsidized
household electricity and have become a popular income source for many
Iranians. During numerous raids so far, Tavanir employees have
confiscated hundreds of thousands of mining devices.
source link : https://news.bitcoin.com/iran-amends-regulations-to-ease-crypto-miners-access-to-renewable-energy/
