ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 11. Kazakhstan plans to put into operation more than 10 GW of renewable energy facilities in the next 10 years, said Vice Minister of Energy Sungat Yessimkhanov at a briefing, Trend reports.
"As you know, the ministry has approved a plan for the development of the electric power industry. It includes quite a lot of projects, including renewable energy projects. Firstly, we plan to commission a huge amount of renewable energy—more than 10 GW over 10 years. The second is gas generation. We must implement projects in this direction, since flexible capacities are needed to regulate renewable energy. Such projects continue," he said.
Yessimkhanov also listed a number of projects being carried out as part of the development of the electric power industry.
"Among them is the construction of the Turkestan CCGT in the Turkestan region with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. It will be fully operational in 2026. A 240-megawatt gas station is being built in the Kyzylorda region. In addition to this, as you know, Almaty CHPPs are being switched to gas, and with an increase in capacity, there will be about 1,000 megawatts. We are also modernizing the coal station and expanding the Ekibastuz station. The modernization includes one block of GRES-1 and two blocks of GRES-2," he noted.
Sungat Yessimkhanov pointed out that even with a negative result from the referendum, Kazakhstan has enough resources to meet the country’s electricity needs.
"But the development of nuclear energy has its advantages," 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.
It is expected to commission 25 renewable energy projects, totaling 599.85 MW, by 2027.