Quebec Decides to Offer 300 MW of Energy to Facilitate Cryptocurrency Mining

During the last couple of months, the cryptocurrency market has been dealing with several debates concerning the energy consumption and environmental impact associated with mining. The current regulatory approach for the mining market lacks standardization, thus we have countries attempting to curb the market, whereas others are trying to promote the mining industry.

With this in mind, recent reports indicate that the Quebec energy regulator, Régie de l’énergie, has decided to lift a previous moratorium limiting the amount of electricity attributable to cryptocurrency mining farms. As such, the regulator has decided to allocate an extra 300 MW of electricity, in hopes that Quebec will become one of the leading markets in the mining industry.

The decision comes as a surprise to many, granted that Quebec’s approach towards the mining industry has gone through several changes. Based on this, the decision comes following a prolonged period of inadvertencies in policy making, during which regulators debated whether they should declare inability to meet mining energy demands, or even triple electricity rates for miners.

Luckily, thanks to extra energy production alongside efforts to improve the efficiency of cryptocurrency mining, the regulator has agreed to make Quebec a miner-friendly region, where farms will be able to carry out their activity with reduced electricity costs. At this time, a 300 MW energy block has been reserved for the mining industry, yet part of the block (50MW) will be available to small scale project with a consumption of under 5 MW. It is important to point out the fact that the energy supply for the mining industry may be limited from time to time, especially when the region is in need of extra electricity. This will likely happen during the winter, according to the regulator.

There are however reports stating that the total demand of the mining industry in Quebec is of roughly 4,500 MW, thus not all farms will be able to enjoy the cheap electricity. According to a Hydro-Quebec executive, “We feel that this is a block that is big enough to let this industry grow in Québec, while still leaving room for the development of other industries, like data centres, greenhouses, and mines. The idea was to strike a balanced approach. We feel that this block is a good start for this nascent industry and it will allow us to get a better mutual understanding.”

Lastly, a set of criteria has been designed for miners that are interested in applying for the electricity block.