Ministry happy to let Bitcoin miners make use of surplus power “during times of plenty”
As Bitcoin miners continue to increase their capacity, the Russian Energy Ministry wants the authority to cut off cryptocurrency miners from energy grids.
The announcement follows rumors that last year, Russian players mined roughly $3.5 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC).
Russian Energy Ministry: Miners Should Relocate to Other Parts of the Country
Vedomosti quoted Yevgeny Grabchak, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Energy, as stating that power providers should have the power to “disconnect” miners “from the power supply” at “any time.”
However, Grabchak reasserted assertions made by the Russian Energy Ministry earlier this year. Officials claimed last month that power firms may soon provide miners with surplus power.
“Miners are a new category of consumers. We are discussing them quite actively now. We don’t always have electricity consumption peaks. There is often free capacity on grids, when there are no heavy loads on networks.”Yevgeny Grabchak, Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister
During a meeting with President Vladimir Putin this month, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev stated that cryptocurrency miners “should be prepared to move to parts of the country where there is no energy capacity shortage.”
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Automatic Shut-offs?
Grabchak, meanwhile, said that the industry would be allowed to choose if it wanted to self-limit its power usage or use “automatic” IT solutions. He explained:
“When there is no capacity deficit – as is the case for most of the year – we may give excess capacity to some consumers. But this can only be done if they limit their consumption. Alternatively, they can install automatic solutions that would disconnect them from grids.”
President Vladimir Putin essentially approved the commercial cryptocurrency mining industry earlier this year. Soon after, cryptocurrency mining became authorized.
However, Putin also ordered his government to find ways to ensure miners do not cause power grid chaos. This has previously proved the case in nearby Abkhazia and Kazakhstan.
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“Uncontrolled growth in electricity consumption for cryptocurrency mining may lead to a power shortage in certain regions. This has already been observed in the Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia, and the Transbaikal Territory.”Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Irkutsk, Buryatia, and Transbaikal are all traditional Bitcoin mining hotspots. Irkutsk in particular has struggled with power-related issues, sparking a regional crackdown on illegal miners.
Experts estimate that approximately one-third of all Russian cryptocurrency miners use an average of 1,000 MW while working in or near Irkutsk.
They think that home-based miners consume around 130 MW of this amount.
Miners on the Move?
With their most recent projects, however, it seems that many miners are now looking to relocate away from Siberia and Southern Russia.
Newsko reported that developers in Perm, in the mid-Urals, have completed work on a purpose-built 440sqm mining “farm” on a 1.4-hectare plot.
With a 3 MW capacity, the facility has two main “hangars,” gas boilers, and cooling rooms.
The structure was created by a private individual and was built on what the outlet described as a former “fur farm for breeding chinchillas.”
Additionally, the oil behemoth Gazprom established a subsidiary dedicated to cryptocurrency mining last month. According to media sources, this subsidiary is presently constructing a 500-rig mining farm in Veliky Novgorod, another Russian city in Europe.
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Elsewhere, the regional governor of Komi Vladimir Uyba last month announced plans to build 15 new crypto mining “data centers” in Russia’s northeast.
On the project, Komi officials will collaborate with contractors and cryptocurrency miners in the private sector.
The first two of these centers, according to Uyba, will be constructed in the towns of Sindor and Mikun.