ASTANA, Kazakhstan, March 29. The global initiative 'Chapter Zero Kazakhstan' was launched in Astana, Trend reports, citing the Energy Ministry of Kazakhstan.
The global Chapter Zero initiative, aimed at taking climate risks into account when making business and investment decisions to ensure a gradual transition to a low-carbon economy, is actively developing in more than 70 countries around the world.
As part of the event to launch the initiative in Astana, Vice Minister of Energy Bakytzhan Ilyas noted that low-carbon development is a prerequisite for sustainable development and aims to prevent the catastrophic consequences of global climate change.
"The country has a number of projects to develop renewable and alternative energy sources. On behalf of the President of Kazakhstan (Kassym-Jomart Tokayev), a concept for low-carbon development in Kazakhstan until 2060 was developed. The implementation of these projects will help improve environmental quality, prevent challenges caused by climate change and technological development, create new jobs, reduce the use of carbon in the economy, and address other important issues. We believe that the Chapter Zero Kazakhstan initiative, which is starting its work in Kazakhstan for the first time, is a very important step," he said.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan's renewable energy installations generated 6.675 billion kWh of electricity by the end of 2023. This volume accounts for 5.92 percent of total electrical energy production in 2023.
The country currently has 147 renewable energy facilities (over 100 kW) with an installed capacity of 2,903.54 MW: 59 wind power plants with a capacity of 1,409.55 MW; 46 solar power plant facilities with a capacity of 1,222.61 MW; 39 hydroelectric power plants with a capacity of 269.605 MW; and three biogas power plant facilities with a capacity of 1.77 MW.
Furthermore, by the end of 2023, 16 renewable energy facilities with a total installed capacity of 495.57 MW had been operational: 12 wind farms with a total capacity of 437.1 MW in the Akmola and Zhetysu regions, 2 hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 3.7 MW in the Almaty and Turkestan regions, and two solar power plants with a capacity of 54.77 MW in the Turkestan region.
By 2027, it is planned to commission 25 renewable energy projects with a capacity of 599.85 MW.