Image: MARA · Original source.
Renewables and heat reuse
MARA reports supplying heat at 55–78°C into an existing district heating network. At milder times, those temperatures allow direct integration without heat pumps.
- Project at a glance
- 3.5 MW heat reported
- Source date and context
- 30 July 2025
- Published financial detail
- The sources reviewed do not include full project accounts.
- Our comparison
- A UK example per 1,000 miner kWh
About 5 minutes to read
Mining heat enters an existing Finnish network
MARA reports 3.5 MW of heat at its Satakunta installation, supplied at temperatures between 55°C and 78°C. During milder seasons, the network can take this heat directly without a heat pump. The detail that makes this case useful is the temperature match. If a nearby network can accept the miner's output, the project may avoid the cost and electricity needed to raise it further.
“suitable for direct network integration without requiring heat pumps during milder seasons.”
The temperature match does much of the work
The network's requirements change through the year. Its return temperature, flow and demand determine how much heat it can accept at any moment. A heat supply agreement therefore needs a meter at the delivery point and clear terms for temperature, outages and rejected output. Installed thermal capacity alone will not tell an investor how much heat is sold.
What the numbers could look like in the UK
The calculation below uses assumed UK prices to show how the costs fit together. It is our example, not this project’s reported earnings. Replace the inputs with current machine estimates and the costs at your own site.
Illustrative UK calculation
Income and running costs
1,000 kWh used by miners, plus 50 kWh for pumps and fans. All amounts in pounds.
Operating contributionBefore equipment and installation costs
−£9.60−0.96p per miner kWh
This example buys electricity at 12p/kWh and values useful heat at 6p/kWh. These are assumed prices. The heat value should be replaced with the actual cost of the heating you would otherwise use, or the price a customer agrees to pay.
| Mining income | 8p per miner kWh; an assumed rate, not a live earnings estimate |
|---|---|
| Electricity | 12p/kWh × 1,050 kWh = £126.00 |
| Pool fee | 2% of gross mining income |
| Useful heat | 80% of miner electricity = 800 kWh; valued at 6p per delivered kWh |
| Other running costs | £10 per 1,000 miner kWh; an allowance to replace with your own costs |
| Costs still to add | Equipment, installation, finance, tax, depreciation, major replacements and any costs above the allowance |
The contribution is what remains from mining income and useful heat after the stated running costs. It is not net profit: the equipment and other excluded costs still have to be recovered. Pumps and fans use electricity but earn no mining income in this calculation.
| Gross income per miner kWh | Without heat value | With useful heat |
|---|---|---|
| 5p | −£87.00 | −£39.00 |
| 8p Chart example | −£57.60 | −£9.60 |
| 11p | −£28.20 | £19.80 |
- Mining income needed to cover running costs
- 8.98pper miner kWh
- Highest electricity cost or export value supported
- 11.09pper total electricity kWh
These are two ways to read the same example. Adding equipment costs or a larger maintenance allowance raises the income needed and reduces the electricity price the project can afford.
Compare heating options and work out annual costs
Use the heating system you would actually choose as the comparison. For example, a heat pump using electricity at 20p/kWh with a seasonal COP of 3 has an electricity cost of about 6.67p per kWh of heat. A resistance heater at that tariff uses 20p per kWh of heat. These are calculation examples, rather than measurements from this project.
For an annual estimate, use the miner electricity expected during hours when running makes sense. Scale the contribution by annual miner kWh divided by 1,000, then deduct fixed annual costs. Recalculate if electricity prices, mining income or usable heat change.
Simple payback is the total installed cost divided by positive annual cash contribution. There is no payback under a scenario with zero or negative contribution. The sources reviewed here do not provide the full project accounts needed to calculate an actual payback for this installation.
Price the heat the network actually accepts
Match the heating network’s seasonal flow and return temperatures before selecting equipment.
Use paired electricity and revenue-grade heat meters; record supply and return temperatures and rejected heat. Test the contract against periods when the network cannot accept the offered heat.
Questions worth asking
- Is payment for delivered energy or reserved capacity?
- Who pays for circulation, backup and connection works?
Try your own electricity and heat figures
Compare available miners and dated earnings estimates. Include heat only where you can use it or have a customer for it.
Sources and photographs
Sources checked on 29 September 2026. Project facts and quotations come from the publications below; the UK calculations and practical assessment are The Mining Shop’s analysis. This article is based on published material, rather than a site visit.
Photographs: MARA (source).
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