Over the last six months, reports of Chinese miners crossing the border to obtain cheap electricity from regions like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Iran have abounded. According to a recent interview, Chinese miners have found extremely affordable electric prices ($0.006 per kilowatt-hour) in the oil-rich nation of Iran. However, managing to get thousands of machines over the Iranian border has proven to be far more difficult.
Iran Offers Cheap Electricity But Setting up a Mining Facility Isn’t Easy
Reports stemming from the Chinese publication 8btc explain that miners who have left China to mine bitcoin in Iran have encountered issues with setting up facilities in the region. In an interview, Chinese miner Liu Feng says Iran has been gathering interest from bitcoin miners due to the country’s super cheap electricity. Feng claims electric costs are as low as $0.006 per kilowatt-hour. In China, electricity is much cheaper than most countries at $0.04 per kilowatt-hour and during the wet season, miners can capture around 0.1 yuan ($0.015) per kilowatt-hour in Sichuan.
Iran’s significantly lower electric prices have gathered a lot of attention in recent months from those looking for affordable power. Feng claims to run a facility in Iran that will eventually hold a total of 20,000 Antminer T9s. The Chinese miner aimed to deliver his entire lot of machines to the facility in Iran but the process has proven easier said than done.
“Because of [Iran’s] huge electricity subsidy, the government has added this energy-hungry device (bitcoin miner) to the list of 2,000 banned shipments to come in.” Feng recounted the difficulties involved with being detained at the border with mining equipment:
