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Malaysia’s two energy giants Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and Pestech International Bhd are concerned about the growing number of illegal mining farms.
Tenaga National Berhad (TNB), the largest electricity company in the country, has proposed introducing a special tariff for mining operators. In addition, TNB proposed to the country’s Energy Commission to oblige mining operators to apply for the supply of electricity from legal sources.
Tenaga Nasional Berhad President Baharin Din said the company is seeing a growing number of instances of electricity being used for illegal cryptocurrency mining and expects the number to increase. The CEO of TNB called the theft of electricity by miners a crime against the state.
“Irresponsible criminals do this at the expense of the safety and security of the supply of the general population.”
He added that an unauthorized connection to electricity could also cause a fire. Baharin said that Tenaga Nasional Berhad is now working with the Malaysian anti-corruption agency, the Energy Commission and local councils to identify and arrest corrupt officials, many of whom are involved in cryptocurrency mining. According to the head of TNB, from 2018 to 2021, a total of 18 people were arrested on suspicion of stealing electricity worth 2.3 billion ringgits ($550 million), from 2018 to 2021.
The head of the Malaysian electricity company Pestech International Bhd, Paul Lim Pay Chuan, in turn, added that the development of monitoring technologies for power networks will help fight unregistered miners in the country.
“Introduction of systems such as smart metering, meter data management systems, analytical software and digital power quality products will greatly improve the availability of critical information about electricity demand and supply.”
This could give utilities up-to-date data to better monitor, plan and control the entire power system, including preventing power theft, he said.
The energy crisis in the country is forcing the Malaysian police to fight gray miners. Recently, the Malaysian police destroyed over 1,000 confiscated ASIC miners. A little earlier, during a police operation in the Malaysian city of Georgetown, law enforcement agencies managed to detain four underground miners and confiscate more than 400 ASIC miners of various models. In 2020, police in the Malaysian state of Johor shut down two mining farms and arrested the owners of the equipment on charges of stealing $600,000 worth of electricity.
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