Green energy production increases by a third in Kazakhstan
According to the Bureau of National Statistics, green energy generation increased by 31.1% to 6.6 billion kWh in 2023, accounting for 12.7% of all energy produced if output from major hydropower plants is taken into account or 5.8% hydro power excluded.
Wind turbine-generated energy production showed the most significant increase by 63.3% year-on-year, reaching 3.7 million kWh. Moreover, small-scale hydropower plants reported a 16% increase in output to 949.1 million kWh, compared to the previous year.
On the other hand, solar energy production decreased by 1.5% to 1.9 billion kWh compared to 2022, although it remains the largest segment within the green energy sector, accounting for 29% of the total. Biogas plants produced 52.1% less energy over the year (1.4 million kWh). As of today, there are 147 renewable energy sources (RES) with a capacity of 2.9 gigawatts:
– 59 wind turbines, with a capacity of 1.4 gigawatts;
– 46 solar energy units, with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts;
– 39 hydropower plants, with a capacity of 270 megawatts;
– 3 biogas plants, with a capacity of 1.8 megawatts.
Sixteen RES units with a capacity of 496 megawatts were put in service in 2023. An additional twenty-five new units with a capacity of 600 megawatts will be commissioned by 2027. In February 2024, the Ministry of Energy announced that the introduction of new RES units and renovation of existing ones would increase their total capacity by 26.5 gigawatts by 2035.
The agency expects energy production to increase to 140.5 billion kWh by 2030, whereas consumption will probably rise to 146 billion kWh. This means that the country is going to see shortages of more than 6 billion kWh. Kazakhstan wants to boost the share of RES to 15% in its overall energy production by 2030. In order to do so as fast as possible several one-gigawatt RES projects are set to be implemented.
In November 2023, Head of the Institute of Economic Research of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Karimov, said that the government should actively encourage small and medium-sized businesses as well as regular consumers to use RES. He also highlighted the need to provide land to foreign investors interested in RES and simplify this process, as the current complicated procedures for non-residents are deterring their interest.
He also pointed out green energy in Kazakhstan being three times more expensive compared to the global market. For instance, solar energy costs 8.6 cents, whereas the average price worldwide is not higher than 1.1 to 3 cents and tends to lower annually.
