Page 62 - IRANRptNov21

9.1.13 Utilities sector news
Iran reportedly to supply desalination equipment to Kazakhstan for plant on Caspian Sea coast
Decision by Pakistan to negotiate with Iran for Gwadar power supplies made on eve of eruption of anti-Chinese protests in port city
Crypto mining ‘delivering Iran over $1bn in annual revenue’
Iran is to deliver equipment for a desalination plant that will be built in Kazakhstan’s Caspian Sea port of Aktau, Kazlenta.kz has reported. Several private business groups, including foreign investment groups from Europe and the US, are backing the Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) 4bn ($9.4mn) project, according to the news outlet.
Initial work constructing the desalination plant is reportedly under way at the 50-hectare project site near the village of Akshukur.
Water basins and equipment enabling the desalination of 40,000 cubic metres/year of water will be built and installed.
Iran, which this year has endured its worst drought in 50 years, has experience in building desalination plants along the Persian Gulf coast and is working on constructing more such facilities.
Pakistan has reportedly decided to enter into negotiations with Iran to import from 70 to 100 MW of electricity to power Gwadar port city, where protests erupted last week against severe water and electricity shortages and claimed threats to livelihoods as part of a growing backlash by Pakistanis against projects under China’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road trade, investment and infrastructure programme.
The decision to start talks for Iranian electricity was reported by Pakistani media outlet The News on August 13, prior to the unrest. A 300 MW power plant under construction in Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea, is said to have been delayed for various reasons, making Iranian power the only option for the time being. That, however, in itself presents more difficulties as Iran, struggling to produce enough hydroelectricity amid drought, has in the past couple of years suspended electricity deliveries to Balochistan, the province where Gwadar and its deep sea port are located.
The protests in Gwadar, saw demonstrators including fishers and other local workers block roads in the coastal city in Balochistan—Pakistan’s most under-developed province—while burning tyres, chanting slogans and largely shutting down the city, to demand water and electricity and a stop to Chinese trawlers illegally fishing in the nearby waters and then taking the fish to China, the Guardian reported on August 20. Gwadar port is an integral part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC), in which China has invested billions in infrastructure projects in Pakistan. Islamabad handed Gwadar port to a Chinese-backed multinational corporation on a lease of 40 years.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, around 4.5% of all Bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, with the activity enabling the Islamic Republic to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from cryptocurrencies that can be used to reduce the impact of US sanctions on trade.
Cryptocurrencies are created through a process known as mining in which powerful, energy-thirsty computers compete with each other to solve complex mathematical problems.
The electricity being used for crypto mining in Iran would require the equivalent of around 10mn barrels of crude oil each year to generate, equivalent to around 4% of total Iranian oil exports in 2020, according to the study.
Iran, delivering cheap power, has permitted a certain level of crypto mining in recent years. This has attracted crypto mining investors from countries including China, while unapproved operators have proliferated. All produced Bitcoins in Iran must be sold to the central bank. Cryptocurrencies mined in the
62 IRAN Country Report November 2021 www.intellinews.com