President Tokayev approves joint wind farm project with UAE
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a law ratifying the intergovernmental agreement between Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the construction of a one-gigawatt wind farm. Earlier this year, the administration of the Zhambyl region announced that Masdar, a state-owned renewable energy company in the UAE, was set to implement this project in the region.
«The head of state has signed a law of the Republic of Kazakhstan ratifying the agreement between the governments of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates to implement the wind farm project,» the president’s press service reported.
The announcement followed an official welcoming ceremony held at Akorda for Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who arrived in Kazakhstan on an official visit.
In January, the Akorda stated that Masdar would invest $1.4 billion in the construction of a one-gigawatt wind farm in the Zhambyl region. At the time, President Tokayev held talks with Masdar CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi during his working visit to Abu Dhabi.
«The president highlighted that the partnership between Kazakhstan and Masdar has reached new heights. He noted that the parties successfully signed all the required agreements to implement a one-gigawatt wind farm project in the Zhambyl region. Investments in this project will total $1.4 billion,» the Central Communications Service reported at the time.
In turn, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi told Tokayev the company plans to commence the project in Kazakhstan and hopes to use local components for wind turbines. During the meeting, the two sides discussed further expansion of Masdar’s presence in Kazakhstan, as well as implementation of new high-impact initiatives in the area of renewable energy and digitalization.
During the agreement’s presentation in the Mazhilis, the lower house of parliament, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy Yerlan Akkenzhenov stated that after the farm reaches its full capacity, it will produce 3.4 billion kilowatt-hours annually, allowing the country to reduce CO2 emissions by 2 million tons.
According to the authorities of the Zhambyl region, Masdar was set to begin wind farm construction in 2026. Currently, geotechnical works are underway. The project is scheduled to be launched in 2028.
The electricity generated by the one-gigawatt wind power plant by Masdar is expected to be sold at 4.49 cents per kilowatt-hour over its 25-year project lifespan, per the Kazakhstan-UAE agreement. The project is set to be implemented in two phases, each with a capacity of 500 megawatts. The initial phase will feature a 500-megawatt power output and a battery energy storage system (BESS) with a battery capacity of 300 megawatt-hours and a power output of 150 megawatts. The plant will be integrated with an automatic generation control system managed by the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC).
