China helps Kazakhstan build solar power plants
Nurlan Zhakupov, the chair of the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, and Lyu Zexiang, the head of China Energy International Group (CEIG), have agreed to collaborate on the construction of a solar power plant and the supply of components for wind power stations.
The new agreement is the continuation of an arrangement reached by the fund and China Energy Overseas Investment (CEOI), a subsidiary of CEIG, on July 2, 2024, on the sidelines of the Kazakh-Chinese Business Council in Astana.
Under the initial plan, the two sides are going to build one wind power plant in the Karaganda region with a capacity of 500 megawatts (MW) and one solar power plant in the Turkestan region with a capacity of 300 MW.
CEIG is the world’s largest coal mining and energy producing company that is actively developing its projects in the fields of wind and thermal energy, as well as water resources.
The fund is also going to partner with Sany Renewable Energy from China in order to localize production of wind turbine components, such as blades, gondolas and towers in Kazakhstan.
On Sep. 26, 2024, Azhur, a Kazakhstani company from Shymkent, won a contract to construct a 20-MW solar power plant by offering a bid significantly lower than the starting price. However, the company owned by Anuarbek Karamanov primarily specializes in fruit harvesting and horse breeding. Just two days before that bidding, the company had also won another auction for the construction of a similar solar power plant in the southern energy zone of Kazakhstan.
On Sep. 23, Damona won the first auction for the construction of a 100-MW power plant. This company is owned by Solar System LLP registered within the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) and linked to ML Asia Energy Holding Limited, an Astana-based company controlled by Mikhail Lisyanskiy. On Sep. 25, Dala Solar Company, owned by Bakhyt Alimkulov and also based in Shymkent, won an auction to construct a 20-MW solar power plant in the Jambyl district of the Almaty region. The company specializes in solar energy production.
On Sep. 26, Russian company Lukoil launched a 2-MW solar power plant in the Almaty region. The electricity will power the Lukoil Lubricants Central Asia plant, which has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tons. Lukoil’s main shareholder, Vagit Alekperov, ranks 75th on the Forbes World List with a fortune of $26.5 billion.
In late August, the Australian cabinet authorized the construction of the Australia-Asia PowerLink, the world’s largest solar power plant. The project costs $19 billion and will be located in the northern part of Australia.
