At one of the nation’s hydropower plants, Kyrgyzstan plans to construct a brand-new facility for cryptocurrency mining. By utilizing the whole producing capacity of the power plant, which is currently greater than that of the transmission network, the project seeks to reduce the electricity losses at the power plant.
With Extra Green Energy, Kyrgyzstan Will Power Crypto Mining Equipment
The development of a mining farm with a potential capacity of up to 30 MW at the site of the nation’s Kambar-Ata hydroelectric power project (HPP) was authorized, according to Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov, who made the announcement to local media this week.
According to the chief of state of Kyrgyzstan, who was speaking to the Kabar news agency, the construction of the coin mining plant would cost $20 million, and the money will come from an investor. According to Japarov, all procedures will be automated and under the authority of electricity engineers.
The Kambar-Ata HPP has been operational since 2010, the president added. Although it is capable of generate 120 MW of power, only 90 MW of that may currently be used by customers due to the capacity of the electric grid.
According to Sadyr Japarov, as a result, during the previous 13 years, the Central Asian country has lost 6.816 billion kWh of power, which is equivalent to 3.275 billion Kyrgyz som (more than $37 million). He made a point of saying that once the crypto mining farm is operational, these losses will be eliminated.
After China cracked down on the business two years ago, the region attracted a large number of mining companies. A rule restricting their electricity use went into effect this year in Kazakhstan, a neighboring country where the inflow of miners was cited as the cause of the nation’s expanding power shortage.
In late 2021, Kyrgyzstan increased the cost of power for miners after earlier closing down unlawful mining operations. A specific legislation was passed in 2022 that established a legal definition for virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies, outlawed cryptocurrency payments, and added taxation to investment income and mining profits. The law also enforced a registration process on mining companies.