Kazakhstan sees record electricity consumption and production gap in years
In 2024, Kazakhstan recorded the highest gap between electricity consumption and production in the past few years, a report by energyprom.kz said, Kazinform News Agency reports.
The report said last year’s electricity demand grew to 120.4 billion kWh, with production at 117.9 billion kWh, representing a 2.4 billion kWh gap against 2.2 kWh in 2023.
According to the State Revenue Committee, Kazakhstan imports electricity from Russia to grapple with its electricity shortfall as well as in small volumes from Kyrgyzstan as part of electricity transit from Russia.
Kazakhstan’s electricity production grew 4.2% last year, led by combined heat and power and thermal power generation accounting for nearly 88.4 billion kWh. Electricity production rose by 3% in January-February this year.
The share of hydropower generation stood at 9.5%, reflecting 1.8% increase, gas turbine power generation at 10.1% (up 0.3%) and renewables – 5.4%, representing 6.4 billion kWh of the country’s electricity production in 2024.
The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan also cut its 2025 electricity production growth forecast from initial 121.8 billion kWh to 117.1 billion kWh, while also lowering expectations of electricity production at new facilities in 2025.
Kazakhstan’s National Power Grid estimated that the gap between demand and generation in electricity would be reduced to up to 2.6 billion kWh in 2026 or even achieve surplus in later years backed by large-scale projects after peaking at 5.7 billion kWh by the end of 2025.
In early April, the Kazakh Energy Ministry announced the plan to develop the electric power sector until 2035, revealing new energy facilities set to be built in Kazakhstan in the next decade with the total capacity of 26.4 GW, including a 2.4GW nuclear power plant and a 2.6GW GRES-3. Combustion gas turbines with a total capacity of 4.5 GW are set to be built in 11 administrative centers across the nation.
According to the Energy Ministry, by 2029, Kazakhstan is to commission four major 3.8 GW wind power plants backed by foreign investors, which reflects its commitment to advancing renewable energy.
Earlier it was reported that Kazakhstan is to reduce electricity imports from Russia.
