Energy Minister Homayoon Ha’eri revealed that while the tariff system has been approved, it is pending permission from Iran’s Cabinet — a government organization made up of numerous ministers and other representatives selected by the president.
While Ha’eri refrained from explaining the precise price structure, he said the tariff depends on industry variables such as Persian Gulf oil prices.
For cryptocurrency miners, Iran Electrical Industry Syndicate chief Ali Bakhshi had earlier suggested a cost of $0.07 per kilowatt hour. Because of public subsidies, electricity cost in Iran is presently very inexpensive; one kilowatt hour of electricity usually ends up costing $0.05, with energy cost being lower in the industrial and agricultural spheres.
To explain the level of subsidies, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, the spokesperson of the Energy Ministry, earlier indicated that a subsidy of $1400 is utilized to realize a single Bitcoin (BTC).
The Financial Tribune has pointed out that mining one Bitcoin requires electricity equivalent to that consumed by 24 Tehran houses in one year. The news follows a Central Bank of Iran (CBI) update in which bank governor Abdol Hemmati indicated that CBI intends to permit crypto mining.
In line with remarks made by Energy Minister Ha’eri, Hemmati said that a proposed law will necessitate crypto mining in Iran to comply with the cost of electricity for exports, instead of letting miners to use the highly bankrolled domestic energy infrastructure.
Jamal Arounaghi, Deputy President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, revealed that the authority has not granted permits to import cryptocurrency mining hardware. While there is a tariff structure, the eventual verdict on licensing awaits government endorsement.