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Kazakhstan at alarming stage of lacking heat energy, pins hopes on CHP-3 plant

Kazakhstan Materials 31 January 2023 17:03 (UTC +04:00)
Kazakhstan at alarming stage of lacking heat energy, pins hopes on CHP-3 plant
Emin Sevdimaliyev
Emin Sevdimaliyev
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 31. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called on to accelerate implementation of existing energy projects, Trend reports, citing the press service of the President.

In particular, the president urged to complete construction of the (CHP-3 combined heat and power plant, since Astana continues to suffer from shortage of heat energy and the situation may worsen in the near future.

Currently, the available output of existing heat generation plants (CHP-1 and CHP-2) reaches 2,709 Gcal/h. Considering the rapid growth of population in Kazakhstan and the occasional long-lasting winter, the current output of heat is not enough to cover the entire population. Thus, commissioning CHP-3 is of major importance.

“The local municipality is unable to commission the combined heat and power plant CHP-3. The deadline for the commissioning has been moved several times, which made the project cost increase by 53 billion Kazakh tenge ($114.86 million)”, said the president.

The construction of the CHP-3 was delayed several times due to a combination of factors, including the lack of financing. More recently, geopolitical factors and the Kazakh tenge-Russian ruble currency fluctuations created additional hurdles for the completion of the project.

According to the president, completion of the CHP-3 project is vital considering the projected growth of Astana’s population, which is expected to reach 2 million in 2030.

The finalization of the CHP-3 plant will eliminate the existing shortage, and enable the heat-generating infrastructure to support the expansion of the city, forecasts say.

Tokayev noted that despite addressing the matter in 2019, the CHP-3 is only 83 percent complete.

As of now, occasional abnormal cold puts extra strain on the existing CHP-1 and CHP-2.

Recent estimates suggest that CHP-3 will be completed and commissioned in the second half of 2023.

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