ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 26. Kazakhstan has achieved significant success in the development of renewable energy projects over the past 15 years, Ainur Sospanova, Chairperson of the Qazaq Green Renewable Energy Association, said, Trend reports.
She made the remark during a meeting of the parliamentary commission on monitoring the implementation of national sustainable development goals and tasks.
"The country has established its place on the world stage thanks to its high potential in wind, solar and hydropower. However, the potential would have never been tapped without unprecedented support measures for renewable energy," she said.
Sospanova noted that investors in the renewable energy sector in Kazakhstan have confidence in the protection of their investments thanks to the guaranteed purchase of all electricity produced at preferential tariffs. Auction results significantly reduced the cost of energy, making renewable energy projects competitive even compared to traditional sources.
"Tariff indexation takes into account inflation and exchange rates. This has contributed to the rapid development of renewable energy sources: a 6 percent share has already been attained, ahead of the projected 2026 timeline. The results of auctions since 2018 have reduced the cost of energy. Tariffs for wind and solar stations amounted to 10.38 tenge (about $0.023) and 13.89 tenge (about $0.031) per 1 kWh, respectively, making them competitive compared to coal and gas stations," she said.
Sospanova pointed out that the Qazaq Green Renewable Energy Association is ready to continue to actively promote the development of policies to support renewable energy sources and become an effective platform for cooperation between market participants and government agencies.
Meanwhile, by the end of 2022, there were 130 renewable energy facilities operating in the Republic with an installed capacity of 2,400 MW (46 WPPs: 958 MW; 44 SPPs: 1148 MW; 37 HPPs: 280 MW; 3 BioPPs: 1.77 MW).
At the end of 2022, the volume of renewable energy production amounted to 5.11 billion kWh (wind farm: 2.4 billion kWh; solar power plant: 1.76 billion kWh; hydroelectric power station: 934 million kWh), or 4.53 percent of the total volume of electrical energy production. In 2023, this figure will reach 5 percent.
In 2022, 12 renewable energy facilities were commissioned with a total capacity of 385 MW and a total investment of 180 billion tenge (about $374 million).