According to reports ,Iran’s Ministry of Energy would be cutting the power supply to all of the country’s licensed crypto mining firms by the start of July.
The anticipated electricity deficit from the peak-summer season, a spokesperson for the Ministry stated that there are currently 118 authorized digital currency extraction centers in the country, where the electricity supply must be cut off from the national grid from the beginning of July.
The decision comes after the country’s Ministry of Energy reported a disappointing gain of 1.2 gigawatts to its power generation capacity in 2021. This was well below the projected gain of 3.5 GW, leading to a power use deficit.
Due to international sanctions, Iran lacks the investment needed in power generation capacity and natural gas production to keep up with consumption. On the other side, demand is soaring partly because due to the country’s extremely low electricity prices. Average household electricity in Iran costs as little as $0.005 per kilowatt-hour , a fraction of the $0.024 per kWh in its neighbor Iraq and $0.159 per kWh in the United States. For political reasons, the Iranian government spends over $60 billion annually in indirect subsidies to depreciate electricity prices.