BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 28
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Global trends for transition to a "green economy" directly affect the consumption of coal products, which is also true for Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Infrastructural Development told Trend.
Kazakhstan’s development strategy says that transformations within the framework of the country's green economy will additionally increase GDP by 3 percent, open more than 500 thousand new jobs, create new industries and services and ensure high standards of quality of life for the population by 2050.
The immediate goal for electricity produced by wind farms and solar power plants is to reach 3 percent in the total Kazakhstan’s electricity production in 2020.
"Global trends for switching to a 'green economy', development of innovative technological solutions based on the use of less carbon-intensive energy sources, and the transition to using renewable energy sources for generating electricity and heat, directly affect consumption of coal products," the source said.
The ministry official noted that, however, while a trend towards phasing out the use of coal exists, coal may still play a crucial role in Kazakhstan's energy balance.
"Importance of coal in Kazakh economy will be due to the fact that both in the short and medium term, coal will remain the cheapest energy source," the ministry official said.
Eurasian Development Bank estimates say that the coal industry is one of the most important resource sectors in Kazakhstan’s economy. Kazakhstan’s coal resource base currently consists of over 300 deposits of fossil coal with geological reserves of 170.2 billion tons.
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