Reasons for power outages in Iran: From diesel fuel to Bitcoin production by the Chinese
Officials in the Islamic Republic say they have been forced to cut power in some areas due to high domestic and commercial electricity and gas consumption. Some experts and journalists, however, believe the power outages are related to the Chinese production of Bitcoin in Iran.
Since the early hours of Tuesday, January 13, electricity has been cut off in some areas of Tehran and some other cities. Some areas have also reported water outages. Journalist Taraneh Bani Yaqoub reported on her Twitter about power and water outages in Anzali.
Confirming the news, the spokesman for Iran's electricity industry said the reason was fuel restrictions at power plants. Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi also said: "As soon as the fuel problem and gas supply restrictions are resolved, we will not have a blackout."
According to this member of the board of directors of Tavanir Company: "If people save 10 percent on gas consumption, we will not have the problem of power outages." He also called on people to cooperate with officials by turning off unnecessary lights, wearing warm clothes at home, and lowering the temperature in their homes and workplaces.
Tavanir Company also announced in a statement, "Due to increased electricity and gas consumption in the domestic and commercial sectors and limited fuel delivery to a number of power plants, scattered blackouts have been imposed in some areas."
A text message has also been sent to some urban consumers with the following message: "Wear warm clothes at home so that the gas and electricity of other compatriots are not cut off."
In recent days, reports have been published that power plants are using diesel fuel due to a shortage of their main fuel, which is gas. Issa Kalantari, head of the Iranian Environmental Organization, said that the use of substandard diesel fuel and diesel in industries is the main source of air pollution in winter.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, while approving the use of diesel fuel for power plants, considered the solution to be less consumption of electricity and domestic gas, saying that if people consume less electricity and gas, we will not be forced to burn diesel fuel to supply energy to power plants.
Chinese footprints in power outages
But there are other speculations, including that the electricity shortage is related to Bitcoin mining by Chinese companies around Rafsanjan.
According to Ministry of Energy officials, the production of each coin (digital currency) is equivalent to the annual conventional electricity consumption of 24 residential units connected to the grid in Tehran.
On January 8, Nasim Tavakoli, a manager and entrepreneur living in Iran, tweeted that the Chinese had built a Bitcoin mining farm in the Rafsanjan Economic Zone. Along with this tweet, he also identified the coordinates of this location using Google Maps.
After this tweet, Tejarat News Network published a report on this matter on January 11, in which it asked, according to Mohammad Reza Sharafi, a member of the Iranian Blockchain Association, "If foreign investors can be present in the country, why are there various obstacles preventing our own people from entering the field of cryptocurrency mining?"
According to Tejarat News, "Sharfi, of course, does not consider the sensitivity on the issue of energy consumption correct, because, according to him, the tariff that is charged to digital currency mining centers is considered the highest tariff of its kind in the country, and in addition, this industry has not yet expanded much in Iran."
The Ravi multimedia network also published a video report stating: "The Chinese have disrupted Iran's electricity network."
The report points to “the 10-fold increase in the price of Bitcoin in the past year and cheap electricity in Iran,” and that there is a connection between the two issues. The report cites an institution called bitooda, which, according to charts published on their website, ranks Iran and Kazakhstan third after China and the United States, each producing 8 percent of the world’s total Bitcoin.
In its video report, Ravi Network quotes Deputy Minister of Communications Amir Nazemi as confirming the existence of Bitcoin mining farms in the Rafsanjan and Aras regions by the Chinese. He, however, clarified that no special conditions were given to the Chinese and that if an Iranian company wanted the same facilities would be available to it.
Protest on social media
The issue of linking Bitcoin production to power outages and the use of diesel fuel, which is very harmful to health, has been met with much criticism on social media, and many users believe that this action means "either suffer from shortness of breath from diesel fuel or endure power outages."
Journalist Pejman Mousavi wrote on Twitter about the high electricity consumption in Bitcoin production farms and linked it to urban power outages.
Journalist Masoud Nouri also pointed out that Iran is the third largest producer of Bitcoin and linked the issue of electricity shortages in Iran to it.
