PRESS: Deripaska’s En+ can sell miners power for 1 bln rbl in 2018

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (PRIME) -- Total demand of cryptocurrency miners for power supplied by Oleg Deripaska’s En+ Group could reach 100 megawatts (MW) in 2018, and the group could earn about 980 million rubles, business daily Vedomosti reported on Wednesday.

En+’s General Director Maxim Sokov said the group is holding talks with several funds raising investments in construction of mining farms, which will consume power. En+ will suggest miners should build farms in the vicinity of the group’s power plants in the Siberian cities of Irkutsk, Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk.

The funds are gathering a pool of investors, including Chinese and U.S. ones.

En+ wants to engage five floors. The capacity of the Ust-Ilimsk hydropower plant amounts to 3,840 MW and of the Ust-Ilimsk thermal power plant to 525 MW. The capacity of the Bratsk hydropower plant stands at 4,500 MW. Irkutsk has two sites: the hydropower plant with a capacity of 662 MW and the thermal power plant with 655 MW.

The sale of power to miners will diversify the portfolio of En+’s clients, Sokov said, without disclosing any tariffs.

Natalya Porokhova, head of the research group at the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA), said the sale of 100 MW could bring En+ from U.S. $10 million to $15 million.

VTB Capital’s analyst Vladimir Sklyar said the deal could cost about 980 million rubles if based on the 2017 prices.

(57.7701 rubles – U.S. $1)

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