Kazakhstan reports surge in spending on imported Russian electricity

According to Sungat Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan’s deputy prime minister of energy, in 2024, the country spent approximately $199.6 million on electricity imported from Russia.

«We are talking about 100 billion tenge (approximately $199.6 million). We will provide a more precise figure later. We plan to reduce electricity imports from Russia, as we have effectively commissioned several new power plants. Our goal is to make our energy imports not to exceed two billion kilowatt-hours,» he said during a meeting with members of the Senate, the upper house of Kazakhstan’s parliament.

Yessimkhanov emphasized that by 2027, Kazakhstan will fully cover its needs for electricity on its own. Therefore, no energy imports from neighboring countries will be required.

According to the 2024 data from the Ministry of Energy, energy consumption in Kazakhstan rose by 4.3% to 120 billion kWh, while output increased by 4.5% to 117.9 billion kWh. The deficit was mitigated by imports from Russia. Thus, according to Yessimkhanov, Kazakhstan acquired 2.6 billion kWh from the neighboring nation.

Previously, Minister of Energy Almassadam Satkaliyev noted that the price for Russian electricity depends on the consumption time (peak hours) and volume, which makes the price increase when purchasing over the set limit of 150 megawatts. The price ranges from eight to 48 tenge (from $0.016 to $0.096) per kWh. The highest fare applies when the electricity is acquired during peak hours.