How much of the country’s electricity do illegal miners consume?

According to Energy Press, the deputy head of the distribution engineering office of Tavanir Company stated: Most electricity losses occur in electricity distribution networks, which is due to the low voltage level and proximity to the point of consumption. In general, energy losses in a network are the difference between the energy delivered to that network and the energy measured and sold at the outputs of that network. With this definition, in addition to the amount of energy that is actually wasted, the amount of energy that is consumed but not measured is also considered as losses. Mehrdad Samadi added: In fact, losses are divided into two categories: technical and non-technical, and technical losses are an inherent concept in electrical energy distribution issues and are inevitable. This component can be controlled by properly implementing electricity networks and proper maintenance, and the country’s electricity networks are in a good condition compared to the global average in this regard. Non-technical losses are mainly caused by unauthorized use of electricity. This means that illegal and unmetered branches cause the energy consumed in the correct measurement cycle not to be evaluated and are considered losses.
He estimated the amount of electricity losses in the distribution network at about 9.7 percent and emphasized: Studies show that more than half of it is related to non-technical losses. Also, losses in transmission networks are estimated at about 2.5 percent. It should be noted that what is mentioned in some sources as an efficiency of 30 or 40 percent or less mainly refers to the process of converting energy from fossil fuels to electrical energy in the power plant, which has nothing to do with losses in transmission and distribution networks.
Consumption of 1,500 megawatts of electricity in unauthorized mining of cryptocurrencies
Samadi noted: Electricity distribution companies have extensive and continuous programs and measures to identify and deal with all types of unauthorized use of electricity, which consumes a significant portion of their operational capacity. Including the illegal mining of cryptocurrencies, which has become very widespread these days; it is estimated that it accounts for 1500 megawatts of the country’s electricity, which requires the construction of a 2500 megawatt power plant to provide it, which needs to be criminalized, and the Tavanir Company has plans to eliminate and prevent unauthorized use of its electricity.
He added: Unfortunately, in many cases, after collecting unauthorized electricity, the wrongdoers repeat this violation again, and for this reason, non-technical losses of the network are highly dependent on social and economic problems that cannot be completely eliminated in the short term.
Converting more than 6,500 kilometers of copper network to self-supporting cable
Samadi considered one of the main reasons for technical losses to be the length of the lines due to the very large extent of the distribution networks, and stated: In the non-technical losses section, the main reason is the ability of individuals to access the distribution networks and use electricity illegally. One way to prevent unauthorized use is to limit access to the network, and amending the laws to identify and combat unauthorized electricity, creating a culture of non-abuse, and supporting and cooperating with agencies in this field are also considered other ways to reduce non-technical losses.