Five large renewable energy projects with a capacity of 5 GW will be launched in Kazakhstan in a few years

A meeting of the parliamentary commission for monitoring the implementation of national goals and objectives in the field of sustainable development was held in the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan on the topic: “Development of alternative energy sources and green technologies in Kazakhstan as part of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.” During the meeting, the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan Almasadam Satkaliev reported on the current situation in the renewable energy sector and plans in this area.

According to the minister, by the end of 2023, the coverage of the regions' needs for uninterrupted power supply was 100%.

Electric power generation in Kazakhstan is carried out by 222 power plants, of which 146 are renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 2.8 GW.

In 2023, the volume of electricity consumption was at the level of 115 billion kWh (112.9 billion kWh in 2022), the production of electrical energy amounted to 112.8 billion kWh (112.8 billion kWh in 2022 ). At the same time, imports of electrical energy from neighboring countries amounted to 3.4 billion kWh, exports – 1.4 billion kWh. The forecast generation for 2024 is 115 billion kWh.

Renewable energy has shown steady growth and since 2014 its installed capacity has increased more than 16 times (from 178 MW in 2014 to 2868 MW in 2023).

At the end of 2023, the volume of electricity generated by renewable energy facilities amounted to 6.675 billion kWh (wind farms – 3,824.99 million kWh; SPPs – 1,853.95 million kWh; HPPs – 993.87 million kWh ; BioPPs – 2.71 million kWh) or 5.92% of the total electric power production, while taking into account large hydroelectric power plants it amounted to 13.7%.

In order to achieve a 15% share of RES by 2030 and a 50% share (including alternative energy) of RES by 2050, the Ministry will ensure the holding of annual auctions, as well as the implementation of large-scale projects with strategic investors.

“I note that projects for the implementation of large-scale renewable energy sources are currently at various stages of development. The commissioning of 5 large renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 5 GW is planned for 2029-2030,” the minister said.