Iran announces electricity tariff for cryptocurrency mining operations

Iran government announces a new electricity tariff for cryptocurrency mining operations. As per the guideline, mining digital currency is banned during peak hours, which usually spans over 300 hours in the four-month period of high electricity consumption across Iran mostly due to the warm weather.

During non-peak hours of this four-month period, miners can continue their operations and will be charged $0.16 per kWh for each Kilowatt hours consumed. For the remaining cold eight months of the year, around $0.04 per kWh will be charged to miners.

The new regulation comes after Iran launched a crackdown on illegal use of subsidized electricity for mining currencies like Bitcoin in places like abandoned factories and livestock units where the prices for electricity are exorbitantly low. The need for crackdown started when suddenly demand for power rose by 7% in June and cryptocurrency mining was thought to be the main cause.

Iran’s Energy Ministry has also offered a bounty to anyone who exposes miners who use subsidized electricity for mining cryptocurrency in the country. Up to 20 percent of damage recovery inflicted on the power grid would be awarded to the informer.

Additionally, the government has offered an incentive to those who would set up their own power plants for mining digital currencies, adding if a failure occurs to generate electricity from these renewable sources, the government would back-up these plants.