Managing Curtailment Price Volatility

Overview

Price volatility in electricity markets can present a significant operational challenge for mining facilities. OptiFleet allows you to select a price threshold so you can curtail if that threshold is exceeded. But what if the price is volatile, bouncing up and down near that threshold? 

When power prices fluctuate around the defined curtailment price threshold, mining operations can experience excessive hardware cycling, thermal stress, and reduced equipment longevity. OptiFleet addresses these challenges through two complementary control mechanisms:

• Ramp & Hold settings that apply to all miners selected for curtailment
• Price curtailment execution instructions that allow you to curtail only after the price has been exceeded for chosen number of minutes

When properly configured, these features enable operators to balance hashing time against equipment stress.

OptiFleet's Curtailment and Load Restoration Framework

OptiFleet's curtailment system uses several methods to help reduce thermal shock and extend equipment life, as well as to help you protect your electrical infrastructure.

Flexible Selection Scope: Operators can target any subset of mining hardware, from entire facilities to specific container groups or fleet segments. This granular control allows for differentiated management strategies based on equipment characteristics and operational priorities.

Sleep-Based Curtailment: The system uses sleep mode, not hard shut down or network curtailment. The fans still run during curtailment so cooling is not interrupted.

Efficiency-Aware Sequencing: During curtailment, OptiFleet prioritizes shutting down least-efficient miners first, preserving revenue per watt during partial load reduction. Conversely, restoration begins with the most efficient units, optimizing profitability throughout the recovery process.

Ramp & Hold Settings

These settings apply to the entire site (or to all of the miners in the group selected for curtailment.)

Ramp Down & Ramp Down Parameters

How quickly do you want to shed load? Operators can specify either a time duration (e.g., 2 minutes) or a power rate (watts per second). Each setting will show you the results in the other - ie if you enter watts, it will show you the time that  is expected to take, and if you enter time, the system will calculate the expected watts per second you'll be shedding..

Similar controls apply to load restoration, which can be set with either duration or power rate limits. The system restores capacity beginning with the most efficient miners, and adheres to the ramp settings to manage the progressive load addition.

Hold Period Function

The Hold Period serves as a volatility buffer, requiring curtailed miners to remain curtailed for a minimum duration before ramp up can begin, to prevent miners from coming back up and then back down too soon during price volatility.

Price Curtailment Hold Setting

You can one of two ways to execute a price curtailment in the rule configuration. This applies at the rule level, so it can be set differently in different rules depending on need. 

• Immediately: Initiates curtailment as soon as the price threshold is exceeded, following the configured ramp-down profile
• When price is exceeded for x minutes: Requires the price to remain above the threshold for a continuous period before triggering curtailment, filtering out brief price spikes.

Summary

OptiFleet's integrated approach to price volatility management enables mining operations to maintain uptime during favorable price conditions while protecting equipment investments through intelligent curtailment options that minimize unnecessary operational stress.