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Kazakhstan has all conditions for transition to renewable energy sources

Oil&Gas Materials 25 April 2013 18:16 (UTC +04:00)
Kazakhstan has all the conditions for a 50-percent transition to renewable energy sources by 2050, Environment Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Kapparov said at the 11th Eurasian Media Forum on Thursday.
Kazakhstan has all conditions for transition to renewable energy sources

Kazakhstan, Astana, 25 April / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /

Kazakhstan has all the conditions for a 50-percent transition to renewable energy sources by 2050, Environment Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Kapparov said at the 11th Eurasian Media Forum on Thursday.

"We have all the conditions for that. This is political will, as the head of state stated in his strategy explanation," Kapparov said.

According to him, despite the fact that the transition to a 'green' economy requires a large amount of investment, Kazakhstan is quite able to develop one, as it has achieved a certain level economic success.

"We have chosen the path of sustainable development, which will mean a quality of life that effects what kind of air we breathe and what kind of food we eat. We must start the transition to a 'green' economy now, not when we reach our maximum GDP," the Minister said.

According to him, in order to achieve this goal, Kazakhstan must resolve a number of problems such as water scarcity, land degradation and its energy basket imbalance, 80 percent of energy in Kazakhstan comes from coal.

"We need to develop renewable energy sources. Gas will mark the transition stage from coal-fired power to renewable sources of electricity. This should be the development of gas-fired generation. Gas is referred to as "the best friend of renewable sources," Kapparov said.

According to the Minister, when talking about investments in the "green economy", we are talking about investment projects that are profitable despite the fact that they do not pay off quickly.

"So far, I do not know how much we will invest. However, 1.5 percent of GDP in China will be invested in the "green economy". This is tens of billions of dollars a year. Korea pledged to invest two percent. With regards to Kazakhstan's investment, I do not know yet and can not say for sure," Kapparov said.

According to him, some investments will be made by the private sector.

"It is important that the state creates favorable conditions for joining us. Overall, the investment climate is good for all investors. However, the "green economy" requires special conditions. There are a lot of technical issues, and we need a law that guarantees a return on investment. In other words, the state promised to buy the energy that is produced by the sun or wind. We are currently developing a new draft law that will cover all the guarantees for the purchase of energy produced from renewable sources. This is a German model with fixed rates expected by all investors," Kapparov said.

According to Kapparov, the cost of energy generated by renewable sources is decreasing every year.

"Solar power is getting cheaper by 10 percent a year as well as wind power. The cost of wind power in Germany 20 years ago was 50 cents per kilowatt, whereas, the present price is nine cents per kilowatt. Soon the price will be five cents per kilowatt. Germany has set a goal to get 85 percent of its electricity from renewable sources," he said.

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