Kazakhstan to build 'giant power banks' to store green energy

The Energy Ministry's Public Council, chaired by Zhakyp Khairushev, held a meeting to discuss issues related to the 2025–2026 heating season and the integration of artificial intelligence and digital technologies in the energy sector.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Minister of Energy Sungat Yessimkhanov, members of the Public Council, and representatives of the ministry's departments.

Discussions also focused on developing the energy storage systems market and the prospects for pumped storage hydropower (PSH) plants.

As renewable energy sources expand rapidly in Kazakhstan, projects that include energy storage systems are moving forward. These systems store electricity generated by wind and solar farms for use during peak consumption hours.

Major international investors, including TotalEnergies, Masdar, China Power, and China Energy, have already entered Kazakhstan's green energy sector. They are building wind farms with a capacity of up to 1 GW each. Each wind farm will also include an energy storage system with a capacity of 300 MW. As of today, the total capacity of projects using energy storage systems stands at 1.6 GW.

Kazakhstan also plans to build pumped storage hydropower plants to make the energy system more flexible.

Two such projects are currently being developed in the Almaty region. A pumped storage hydropower plant acts like an energy accumulator: when there is excess electricity, it pumps water to an upper reservoir. During peak demand, it releases the water down through turbines to generate electricity.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that the construction of a waste-to-energy plant is set to kick off in Almaty.