BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 21. The EU implements a dedicated action to support the development of renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan for decarbonization of the energy and industrial sector, with a special focus on the production of renewable hydrogen, a European Commission official told Trend.
This action is envisaged in the roadmap approved in May 2023 by European Commission's Executive Vice-President, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Kazakhstan's Prime Minister, Alikhan Smailov, as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on November 7, 2022.
"The roadmap identifies concrete areas of action. This includes cooperation between industrial stakeholders to identify and fulfill joint investment projects. It also foresees closer cooperation on geological exploration, research, and innovation, the formation of skills, or on capacity building utilizing the EU Horizon Europe program and Cooperation facility and other funding instruments," said the official.
As foreseen in the MoU, the operational partnership roadmap has been agreed upon and endorsed for the upcoming period 2023-2024.
Furthermore, according to the European Commission official, the roadmap reflects current needs such as the modernization and decarbonization of the Kazakh mining industry. It also includes technology transfers and supports the development of renewable energy in both regions, essential to address the climate crisis.
In terms of collaboration of both sides to ensure the implementation of the roadmap, the official said that a dedicated working group will be set up to monitor the implementation of the roadmap.
"The ultimate goal of the mutually beneficial cooperation is the closer integration of sustainable raw materials, batteries, and green hydrogen value chains including the in-country value-added development," the official added.
Meanwhile, according to the official, the partnership with Kazakhstan shows Europe’s commitment to work with partner countries on shared commitments to a greener and more resilient future in line with the Global Gateway Strategy and the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan.
"We will work with partner countries that have the potential to develop their renewable hydrogen production and promote the creation of competitive markets to enable such hydrogen produced outside the EU to be traded internationally without export restrictions or price distortions. We will also work with partner countries to invest in infrastructure for developing sustainable and resilient raw materials value chains," the official concluded.