ANALYSIS OF ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION BY MINING FARMS AND COMPARATIVE ESTIMATES OF THE COST OF ELECTRICITY AT DIFFERENT TARIFFS

Abstract

According to the statistics of power supply companies, cryptocurrency mining has grown strongly in the Republic of Khakassia over the past three years, which has led to a sharp increase in electricity consumption, especially in rural areas. In this regard, a serious problem has arisen for power engineers, since payment for consumed electricity is carried out at the “population” tariff, the value of which is much lower than the “other consumers” tariff. The participation of mining has increased the workload of low-voltage electrical networks, which requires additional capital investments in their development. The transition of payment for the consumed energy by mining farms to a higher tariff would solve this problem.

The solution of this problem concerns the analysis of electricity consumption by subscribers and in a comparative assessment of the cost of electricity at the tariff "population" and at the tariff "other consumers". The analysis of electricity consumption at the “population” tariff made it possible to identify 19 mining subscribers whose electricity consumption exceeds the weighted average consumption: in the summer period - more than 10 times; in winter - 15 times.

Considering the dynamics of tariffs for the period from 2018 to mid-2022, a comparative assessment of the cost of electricity consumed by mining farms at the tariffs of "population" and "other consumers" is given. This assessment showed the following: the cost of electricity consumed at the “population” tariff is on average 4 times less than at the “other consumers” tariff.

Thus, the analysis made it possible to identify miners from the total number of consumers and evaluate the lost profit in value terms. Given the large cost difference in payment between miners and the population, differentiation of tariffs for mining farms is in demand.