Kazakhstan sees 17-fold growth in renewable energy capacity
Kazakhstan has seen its installed renewable energy capacity grow more than 17 times over the past decade, reaching 3,082 MW, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Currently, renewable energy contributes 6.43% to the country’s total electricity output. These achievements, along with future plans, were showcased at the Power Central Asia + China Regional Energy Forum in Astana.
“Our rapid progress stems from a focused government policy aimed at creating a clean, stable, and economically efficient energy system. Since 2018, we’ve had a transparent auction system in place that has attracted around 260 companies from 13 countries. This has helped us not only boost capacity but also sharply reduce tariffs for renewable electricity — nearly by half for wind power and by 2.5 times for solar. We’ve created some of the region’s most attractive conditions for investors, including 20-year power purchase agreements, tariff indexation, and a range of investment incentives,” said Zhaslan Kassenov, the director of the Renewable Energy Sources Department of the Ministry of Energy.
Key achievements and upcoming plans:
- Currently, 156 renewable energy facilities operate nationwide, including 63 wind farms and 48 solar power plants.
- In 2025, nine new facilities with a combined capacity of 455.5 MW are set to be commissioned.
- Strategic investors from China, France, the UAE, and Russia are actively collaborating with Kazakhstan on projects totaling approximately 5 GW in capacity.
The Government aims to raise the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy mix to 15%.
“To achieve this, plans are in place to launch 91 new projects by 2030, with a total capacity of 2,258 MW. By then, the total installed renewable energy capacity is expected to reach 10 GW. Special focus is given to projects that ensure energy system stability. A hydro energy development plan has been approved, and work is ongoing to build pumped-storage hydroelectric plants to enable efficient energy accumulation and storage,” Zhaslan Kasenov added.
As reported earlier, Kazakhstan is currently implementing 30 renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of 1,700 kW, in partnership with Chinese companies.