Crypto mining leaves Kazakhstan with a shortage of electricity, and the government plans to impose special electricity tariffs for miners.
Electricity demand in Kazakhstan has risen 8% since early 2021, which comes after crypto miners from China flocked to the country since crypto mining was banned in China.
The Financial Times research estimates that more than 87,000 heavy mining equipment moved from China to Kazakhstan, making the country the second largest crypto mining center in the world, behind the United States.
During last October, at least three of the largest coal-fired power plants in Kazakhstan were forced to shut down due to too much electricity demand.
As a result, the Kazakh government will limit crypto mines using more than 100 megawatts (MW) for two years. But then they allowed registered miners not to follow these rules.
Later, however, the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) will also limit the supply of electricity to the 50 crypto miners currently registered with the government.
Meanwhile, miners who are in the gray sector (who are not registered) are accused of being the cause of the electricity supply crisis in Kazakhstan. These miners are estimated to consume 1,200 MW of electricity from power plants that are already in limited supply.
Starting 2022, registered miners will be charged a special fee to alleviate this electricity supply crisis. They will charge 1 Kazakh Tenge per kWh.
But for the time being, Kazakhstan is relying on RAO, the Russian power company, to provide additional electricity supply this winter.
Previously, there were certain regions that were hardest hit by this electricity supply crisis, namely the southern part of Kazakhstan, which sometimes did not get supply from the main power plant, and only depended on local power plants.
Apart from Kazakhstan, there was also Iran, which had blocked crypto mining activities for four months last May due to the electricity supply crisis. Finally, they implemented a system of registered and unregistered miners to solve this problem.
