Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia to build wind power station
The government of Kazakhstan, Samruk-Kazyna and ACWA Power from Saudi Arabia signed an agreement on principles of implementation of a renewable power project, according to a press release of the country’s Ministry of Energy.
The document was signed on March 1, when Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Bolat Akchulakov and Samruk-Kazyna Board Chairman Almasadam Satkaliyev met with Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud and top executives from Saudi Aramco, SABIC and ACWA Power. The new project is expected to provide Kazakhstan with investments and new jobs and will strengthen the country’s green power capabilities.
«The agreement is aimed at the development, financing, construction and exploitation of a one-gigawatt wind power station in the Jetysu region (in the area known as Jongar Gate). The construction process will start in 2025,» Kazakhstan’s ministry of energy said.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed a variety of topics related to renewable energy, oil and gas projects and petrochemical projects. They also agreed to choose the most promising areas for bilateral cooperation and anchor these arrangements with a new agreement.
In July 2022, when President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev visited Saudi Arabia, the two countries agreed to intensify their cooperation in the sphere of economy and investments. At the time, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy and ACWA signed a memorandum of understanding in the sphere of power generation and renewable energy. Kazakhstan and Saudi Arabia can cooperate in different areas like petrochemical industry, nuclear power, green hydrogen production and space exploration, Tokayev said during his visit to the Middle East kingdom. He also highlighted that the legal framework in both countries allows them to cooperate and pursue peaceful exploration and exploitation of space.
«We hail the intention of the kingdom to develop its space program as a part of the Saudi Vision-2030 concept. Kazakhstan has both the experience and resources for the development of the aerospace industry. Our companies are ready to cooperate with state-owned and private companies in Saudi Arabia in all these spheres,» the president said.
Tokayev also noted that with the help of Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan launched $120 million worth of projects in education, healthcare, culture and infrastructure. However, this sum doesn’t reflect the real potential of the two countries, the president said.
Wind power station projects in Kazakhstan
In January 2023, the media reported that the Ministry of Energy, Samruk-Kazyna and several companies from the UAE are going to build a 500-megawatt wind power station somewhere in the Jambyl or Turkestan regions. The construction is expected to start in 2025.
In November 2022, Samruk-Kazyna and French Total agreed to work together on a one-gigawatt wind power plant in the Jambyl region. The $1.9 billion project must be implemented over the period from 2026-2027. Once the wind power plant is ready, it will increase Kazakhstan’s renewable energy output by 150%.
The first wind power station in Kazakhstan was built in 2011 in the Jambyl region. In 2017, the country opened its second wind power station in the town of Ermentau in the Akmola region. In December 2019, Italian Eni launched a wind power station Badamsha-1 in the Kargaly district of the Aktobe region. Later, the company opened its second 200-gigawatt-hour wind station Badamsha-2.
