All illegal digital miners have been disconnected from the power grid in Kazakhstan while the remaining miners are under the supervision of authorized public agencies, Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev told journalists during the Astana International Forum.
«There are no shadow digital miners in Kazakhstan anymore, although I can’t say off the top of my head how many such companies existed before. Energy officials, representatives of the power grid operator and law enforcement agencies have done a good job in terms of finding illegal digital miners. As far as I know, almost all these companies have been disconnected from the power grid. I mean all miners we have now are legal. They are registered in relevant associations, which in turn are fully transparent for public control,» the minister said.
All digital miners who operate legally are controlled by the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry. According to Satkaliyev, such miners work at night when the general consumption of energy is lower.
«Of course, they have been receiving some energy. As I remember they used to consume about 700 megawatts. Now, this rate is much smaller,» Satkaliyev said.
In May 2023, the Ministry of Energy adopted new rules for digital miners if they want to connect to the power grid in Kazakhstan. Under the new rule, digital miners (entrepreneurs and entities) are obliged to sign contracts with power grid companies to get energy.
In order to sign such a contract, any miner needs to prepare a range of documents including a copy of state registration (for entities) or a copy of the document from the state electronic registry of permits and notifications (for entrepreneurs), a copy of permission for connection to power grid and a copy of the acceptance certificate for electric energy meter.
Once a digital miner meets all technical requirements an energy company should provide it with energy within seven days. On the other hand, if a miner violates the energy consumption rules, its energy company can limit the energy supply for such a company or stop it altogether.
