Norwegian town shuts Bitcoin mine, residents face higher power bills

The recent closure of Kryptovault’s Bitcoin mining facility in Stokmarknes, Norway, has left residents grappling with a 20% increase in their electricity bills. The decision to shut down the mine came after the local municipality, Hadsel, failed to renew its operating permit due to persistent noise complaints from nearby residents.

Kryptovault’s Bitcoin mine closed due to noise violations

Earlier this week, Kryptovault’s Bitcoin mining facility in Stokmarknes shut down after Hadsel municipality chose not to extend the company’s expired temporary permit.

Hadsel’s administration issued an operating permit to Kryptovault about three years ago. However, since then, the facility’s operations have been more of a headache for the locals, with many lodging noise complaints against the company. 

In 2022, some residents living in close proximity to the plant told NRK, a Norwegian Media outlet, that they barely slept at night due to the noise from the facility. Harald Martin Eilertsen, who lived about 250 meters away from the mining facility, referred to it as ‘troublesome,’ comparing the sound to that of a powered sawmill running nonstop at the time. 

The mayor of Hadsel, Kjell-Børge Freiberg, also spoke on the mine’s closure on September 13, noting that the facility’s noise had distressed multiple residents.

The Stokmarknes site’s primary use of air coolers has contributed to most of the noise output, as they are typically louder than liquid-based coolers.

In its first years of operations, the company measured the noise produced internally and stated it was below limit values. However, it was said that it would build higher noise walls around the plant and put sound-absorbing material around the equipment to reduce noise output. Despite all these, residents remained unsatisfied.

Local electricity bills rocketed by 20% following mine closure

Kryptovault’s Bitcoin mining facility in Stokmarknes accounted for 20% of Noranett’s income, consuming over 80 GWh annually, equivalent to about 3200 households’ power needs.

Upon learning that the Bitcoin mine had ceased all operations, the local energy company decided to raise electricity prices for residents to compensate for the loss of income from the mine. Noranett said power customers will now have to pay 20% more in the next month.

Robin Jakobsen, a network manager at Noranett, projects a normal household that currently pays about NOK 12,000-13,000 annually will pay NOK 2,500-3,000 (equivalent to roughly $235 to $280 USD) higher in a year.

Mayor Kjell-Børge Freiberg remarked that they are working on finding new projects to cover the power demand gaps, lessening the cost burdens on locals.

He added, “We work every day to facilitate the industrial activity that we want to have in the municipality. So it is not certain that we will be able to solve it in one month, but we work every day to facilitate business development. […]Yes, it is definitely an opportunity for the municipality and makes us even more attractive. Then we want an industry that creates value – so no one thinks we want a new data center.”