3 power plants in Iran to sell electricity for block reward mining

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Iranian block reward miners will now have access to electricity from three of the country’s biggest power plants. This follows a directive by the Iranian government in July that allowed the country’s power plants to get involved in block reward mining.

Iran’s Thermal Power Plant Holding Company (TPPH) has announced that it will be offering power to block reward miners from three of its power plants. TPPH’s managing director Mohsen Tarztalab revealed that the company is ready to accept the bids from mining firms.

“The necessary equipment has been installed in three power plants of Ramin, Neka, and Shahid Montazeri, and the auction documents will be uploaded on the SetadIran.ir website in the near future,” he stated, The Tehran Times reports.

The power plants will only sell power generated from expansion turbines to the miners, Tarztalab revealed. These turbines operate on clean energy, such as natural gas. The use of these turbines will also ensure that the miners don’t interrupt the national grid as the turbines “are not connected to the national grid and the electricity generated by them is only used by the power plant itself.”

This is the latest nod for the block reward mining industry in Iran, a sector that has been on a steady rise for the past two years. Initially, the government was skeptical, raising concerns over the high power use. In July 2019, it seized over 1,000 mining rigs over alleged high power use while also banning several block reward mining operations.

The stance has shifted since then, as the government recognized the economic gains the country can make from digital currency mining.

TPPH’s head confirmed that the economic incentive was a key reason the company is venturing into mining. The Iranian power industry has been focused on creating stable sources of income in recent years as it strives to offer cheap electricity to consumers while still generating profits.

Tarztalab stated, “Unfortunately, constant price hikes and the obligation for supplying electricity with stable prices to subscribers have caused a large gap between revenues and expenditures in the country’s electricity industry, and we need new sources of income to fill this gap.”

The Iranian government issued a decree allowing power companies to engage in block reward mining in August 2020. As CoinGeek reported, it cautioned the power companies against using subsidized power for mining.