NORWAY WILL STOP PROVIDING ELECTRICITY SUBSIDIES TO MINERS

The Norwegian authorities have decided to refuse to provide preferential terms of energy supply for mining companies.

At the moment, Norwegian miners pay for electricity at reduced rates, on similar terms, under which all industrial enterprises in the country that consume large amounts of energy are served. Thus, when consuming more than 0.5 MW of electricity, the cost of a kilowatt is only 0.00056 dollars, while the standard tariff for the Norwegian population is $0.19 per kW.

Previously, Norwegian miners paid only 2.8% of the standard tariff rate. However, the government decided to refuse providing benefits to mining data centers. Since 2019, the budget of Norway will cease to subsidize tariffs for this type of business.

The elimination of subsidies was initiated by the tax administration, which is part of the Norway Finance Ministry. The proposal was supported by the majority of the country’s departments, which subsequently made appropriate amendments to the state budget for 2019.

The representative of the mining company ICT Norway Roger Sherva, criticized the decision of the authorities, as, according to him, the issue of cancellation of subsidies was not discussed with the participants of the mining sector. Sherva believes that the termination of benefits can lead to the ruin of the majority of Norwegian mining companies.

Recall that in late summer, the Norwegian authorities closed the mining farm due to the lack of legal permission to conduct activities related to the circulation of digital currencies.