Kazakhstan, Astana, Feb. 6 / Trend D. Mukhtarov /
The Kazakh government will subsidise the installation of wind farms by farmers, Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Industry and New Technologies Minister Aset Isekeshev said at a government meeting today.
"We believe that a large effect from the economic and social points of view can be achieved through the stand-alone use of renewable energy facilities by our citizens. Specifically, financial support will be provided to individuals with no connection to the grid of the country through subsidising 50 per cent of the installation costs up to five kilowatts which will be financed from the state budget, "Isekeshev said.
He said at present there are 1200 farms and summer pastures in Kazakhstan, which have no connection to the grid.
"According to the programme, there will be 4000 agricultural farms and distant pastures. We plan to contribute to the costs of 400 farms per year. This bill is being considered in the Majilis (lower house of parliament)," Isekeshev said.
The minister said another element is providing electricity to consumers who are ready to put renewable energy sources (RES) to individual use with the possibility of the re-sale of generated electricity to the grid. As noted at the meeting, the proposed measures will increase the amount of existing capacity by 2020.
"The goal we set in our plan only for RES is one per cent by 2014 and three per cent in 2020. If you look at international statistics, the share of RES in Kazakhstan is now at 0.5 per cent, "he said.
He said today the basket of generating capacity in Kazakhstan consists of 69 power plants with a capacity of 20,620 megawatts.
Earlier the Kazakh president set a target for development of alternative energy sources which should reach at least 50 per cent of total energy consumption in 2050.
In late January, a plan of activities was adopted for the development of renewable alternative energy sources for a period from 2013-2020 over five areas. The first is taking action to support and use RES, the second is development and research of RES by experts, the third, development of local content, promoting RES policy and the fifth is the implementation of specific projects in the field of RES.
In accordance with this plan, it is expected to increase the power generated by renewable energy sources up to 1040 MW by 2020, of which 13 wind farms will have a capacity of 793 MW, 14 hydroelectric power stations 170 MW and four solar stations 77 MW.
"These are the most cautious figures because the government is considering three documents. This is the energy development concept until 2020, the concept of fuel and energy complex development and the green economy strategy. A balanced solution will be developed based on them," Isekeshev said.