China takes the lead in Kazakhstan’s renewable energy push

Kursiv Research has compiled a ranking of Kazakhstan’s largest renewable energy facilities by installed capacity in 2024. The analysis shows that Chinese investors are increasingly implementing projects in Kazakhstan independently. Previously, they participated primarily as technology suppliers for Kazakhstani businesses.

Who is building renewable energy facilities in Kazakhstan

The logic behind the ranking

Kazakhstan’s largest renewable energy projects

Sarkylmas Kuat 50 MW

Aisha Solar Farm +20 MW

Independent companies

International companies

Large businesses

Industrial enterprises

Who is building renewable energy facilities in Kazakhstan

Business leaders who have been actively investing in green energy in Kazakhstan can be divided into several groups.

The first group includes prominent Kazakh entrepreneurs who made their fortunes in other industries; some of them are listed among the country’s wealthiest or most influential businesspeople, according to Forbes. Thanks to their accumulated capital and broad networks, they were among the first to launch large-scale renewable energy projects. Most of these were implemented in partnership with foreign investors, most often from China, who contributed technology and, in some cases, financing in exchange for a stake in the project.

The second group consists of foreign companies that have become independent players in Kazakhstan’s renewable energy sector. These firms have already completed several major projects without the involvement of local businesses and are continuing to develop large-scale facilities on their own.

The third group includes major industrial companies, particularly in the oil sector and the mining and metallurgical industries. These companies are turning to renewable energy to reduce their carbon footprints and to gain more favorable access to the European Union market, where the Cross-Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will be fully implemented in 2026.

The remaining players form a fourth, loosely defined group that could be described as «independent,» albeit with some qualifications.

A 2023 Kursiv Research ranking of Kazakhstan’s largest renewable energy projects showed that Chinese companies were already playing a major role. In 2024, the trend became unmistakably dominant. This is not surprising, as China leads the world in installed renewable energy capacity and is the largest exporter of solar panels, wind turbines and related components. The country’s development institutions also provide significant financial backing, fueling the global expansion of Chinese firms.

The logic behind the ranking

As of early 2025, Kazakhstan had 153 renewable energy facilities with a capacity of more than 100 kilowatts (kW), totaling more than 3 gigawatts (GW). Of these, eight were commissioned in 2024, adding 163.35 megawatts (MW) in capacity.

Kursiv Research updated its ranking to include all green energy projects in the country with installed capacity starting at 50 MW. The list now includes a new wind power plant (WPP), and the capacity of one existing solar power plant (SPP) has also been revised upward.

By the end of 2024, Kazakhstan had 29 large-scale green energy projects, including 14 wind farms and 15 SPPs. These projects account for approximately 61% or 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of the country’s total renewable energy capacity.

Most of these large facilities are concentrated in southern Kazakhstan. The Zhambyl region leads with six projects totaling 470 MW, followed by the Almaty region with four projects at 260 MW and the Turkestan region with four projects generating 200 MW. However, over the past two years, three major facilities were launched in the Akmola region, elevating it from a peripheral position. The region now has five projects with a combined installed capacity of 300 MW.

Notably, six other renewable energy projects commissioned in 2024 each had a capacity of less than 50 MW and were therefore excluded from the main ranking. Nonetheless, these smaller projects are standing out, as they reflect the evolving balance among the primary players in Kazakhstan’s renewable energy landscape.

Kazakhstan’s largest renewable energy projects

Sarkylmas Kuat 50 MW

The largest of the eight renewable energy projects launched in 2024 is the 50-MW Sarkylmas Kuat wind power plant, located in the Karakiya district of the Mangystau region.

The project operator is Sarkylmas Kuat, a company established by Singapore-based Kallaite Energy. However, according to the Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK), which financed the construction, the ultimate beneficiaries include Oraz Zhandosov (former head of the National Bank of Kazakhstan and No. 44 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s 2024 list of most influential businesspeople), Kazakh businessman and sports official Erlan Kozhasbay, and two foreign nationals — Nan Yi and Nan Haoren, both top executives at China’s Universal Energy.

Universal Energy, according to its corporate site, was established as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Emissions Reduction Initiative. The company also includes a design institute and an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) subsidiary specializing in renewable energy projects.

Together with another Universal Energy executive, Nan Cunfei, these Kazakh and Chinese business partners have already launched several large-scale renewable projects in Kazakhstan, including:

• Abay-1 Wind Farm (100 MW) – ranked second in electricity generation in 2024.
• Ybyray and Abay-2 Wind Farms (50 MW each) – ranked sixth and 13th, respectively.
• Kaskelen SPP (50 MW).

These projects, including Sarkylmas Kuat, follow a similar implementation model: foreign partners contribute technology, and possibly capital, while local partners handle government relations and secure favorable financing, often through national development institutions.

At the Sarkylmas Kuat site, eight wind turbines from China’s Envision Energy were installed. This project also marked a milestone for Universal Energy: the company emphasized in a public statement that it independently installed wind turbines for the first time.

In April 2025, Universal Energy announced that the plant was fully connected to the grid and officially commissioned, though this appears to contradict earlier statements from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, which reported that the plant had already been fully launched in 2024.

Once operating at full capacity, Sarkylmas Kuat is expected to generate up to 183 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity annually, placing it among the top 10 renewable energy projects in the country by output.

The DBK opened a loan facility of approximately $16 million for the project under favorable terms. The total project cost is estimated at $28 million, with Sarkylmas Kuat contributing around $13 million. This financing model is typical for projects involving this group of Kazakh and Chinese investors. What’s notable in this case is the involvement of China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure), which is providing insurance coverage, marking the first known use of such a structure in Kazakhstan’s renewable energy sector.

Aisha Solar Power Plant +20 MW

According to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, AEC Asa launched a new 20-MW solar power plant in the Zhambyl region in 2024. In practice, this expansion increased the capacity of the existing Aisha SPP to 70 MW, as confirmed by a news release from the local administration.

Along with the increase in capacity, the ownership structure of the Aisha SPP has also changed. The project was originally implemented by Russia-based Unigreen Energy, a vertically integrated, full-cycle solar energy company.

According to the latest data from Kazakhstan’s official eGov.kz portal, the current founder of AEC Asa is Huadian Kazakhstan Energy. This entity is controlled by China Huadian Corporation, a state-owned enterprise, through its Hong Kong office.

In Kazakhstan, China Huadian is also pursuing another major renewable energy initiative. In mid-2024, the Mangystau Nuclear Power Plant and Huadian Kazakhstan Energy established a joint venture called Aktau Energy Company. In this partnership, the Kazakh side holds a 30% stake, while the Chinese side controls 70%.

Around the same time, Kazakh Invest, the national agency responsible for attracting foreign investment, announced plans for the joint venture to build a 160 MW combined-cycle power plant in the Mangystau region. The $190 million project is expected to be financed by a Chinese state-owned bank, offering loans with a maturity period of 15 to 20 years at an interest rate below 5%. Repayment will be covered through regulated utility rates, according to Kazakh Invest.

Independent companies

Among the group of so-called independent players is Divitel, which, according to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy, launched a 48-MW wind farm in the Atyrau region, marking the region’s second large-scale renewable energy facility.

Currently, Divitel’s registered founder is Dana Aitmukhambet. No public information is available about her, suggesting she may be new to the sector. In contrast, the company’s director, Rauan Sagynbek, appears to have more experience. According to the Kompra.kz database, he has founded and currently manages four additional small companies focused on wind energy generation. However, none of these firms have won government auctions for wind power plant development.

In 2021, Ak Zhaiyk, a regional newspaper in Atyrau, cited the local department of energy and public utilities in reporting that the Divitel wind farm cost €45.7 million. This is a significant investment for an independent firm, especially one operating without the backing of development institutions or foreign partners.

International companies

A review of limited data from the Ministry of Energy and other open sources reveals that the foreign-owned operator Jasil Jel Energy has fully commissioned two wind turbines in the Akmola region: Jasyl Jel Energy-1 (10 MW) and Jasyl Jel Energy-2 (4.95 MW).

With these two facilities now online, Kazakhstan has completed the full deployment of the Akmola WPP, also known simply as the Akmola project, with a total capacity of 220.95 MW. This makes it the largest wind farm in the country, located near the capital city of Astana.

In addition to the two new units, the wind farm includes six previously launched plants:

• Arkalykskaya-1 – 7 MW.
• Arkalykskaya-2 – 10 MW.
• Sofievskaya – 39 MW.
• Energo Trust – 50 MW.
• Borey Energo-1 – 50 MW.
• Borey Energo-2 – 50 MW.

Although positioned as a single integrated wind farm, the project is legally structured as five subprojects, each managed by a separate operating entity: Jasil Jel Energy, Arkalyk Wind Power Plant, Sofievskaya Wind Power Plant, Energo Trust and Borey Energo.

The companies behind the Akmola WPP are led by Yang Fugang, or a namesake, who also oversees two other top-producing wind projects in Kazakhstan: Zhanatas (No. 1 in 2024 generation) and Shokpar (No. 3).

Both Zhanatas and Shokpar are jointly owned by Kazakhstani entrepreneurs from the Visor Group — Aidan Karibzhanov (No. 41 on Forbes Kazakhstan’s 2025 list of richest businesspeople) and Almas Chukin (No. 45 on the 2024 ranking) — alongside China Power International Holding Ltd. (CPIH), a subsidiary of China’s state-owned State Power Investment Corporation Limited (SPIC).

In contrast, it appears that Kazakhstani businesses did not participate in the development of the Arkalyk WPP, which is part of the Akmola project. Its ultimate beneficiaries are three affiliated entities with Chinese ownership: CPIH, CPIH Netherlands B.V. and Sao Simao Investment Limited.

The Arkalyk wind farm may be the most expensive renewable energy project developed in Kazakhstan to date. Several major international institutions expressed interest in financing it.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) approved $88 million in funding and estimated the total cost of the Akmola WPP at approximately $296 million as of July 2024.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was willing to contribute $67 million.

In the summer of 2024, the DBK and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Almaty signed a letter of intent to issue a syndicated loan for the project.

Large businesses

Baskan Power commissioned two small hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) in the Almaty region in 2024 — Baskan HPP-2 and Baskan HPP-3 — with a combined installed capacity of 14.9 MW.

In 2021, the DBK opened a credit line of up to $22 million to support the implementation of these projects. The total cost was estimated at approximately $34 million.

The DBK records list two local businessmen as the final beneficiaries: Anuarbek Orazbekov and Daniyar Dossabayev. Both are affiliated with the mortgage company Express Finance, formerly known as Elitstroy Finance until 2013.

This network also includes well-known businessman Kairat Orazbekov, who once led Elitstroy and was ranked 50th on Forbes Kazakhstan’s list of richest businesspeople in 2012. Today, he heads the Kairat futsal club, where Anuarbek Orazbekov serves as vice president.

Industrial enterprises

In 2024, a total of 12.5 MW of wind power capacity was commissioned in the Aktobe region, marking a new phase in Kazakhstan’s industrial transition toward renewable energy.

The facility was launched by ERG Capital Project, an operating company within the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). ERG controls major players in Kazakhstan’s mining and metallurgical sectors, including Kazchrome, Aluminum of Kazakhstan, Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association (SSGPO), Kazakhstan Electrolysis Plant and Eurasian Energy Corporation, which includes the Aksu State District Power Plant and the Vostochny coal mine.

This development signals the emergence of a new group of participants in Kazakhstan’s green energy sector: the country’s large industrial enterprises. While their presence in the renewable energy sector remains limited for now, it is expected to expand significantly in the coming years.

The launch of two wind turbines (12.5 MW) represents just the first phase of the Khromtau WPP, which will eventually reach 150 MW. ERG plans to install the remaining 22 turbines in 2025. Once fully operational, the wind farm is expected to generate up to 460 million kWh annually. This electricity will be supplied to the Donskoy Ore Mining and Processing Plant, a division of Kazchrome, to help lower the carbon footprint of ferrochrome, one of Kazakhstan’s major export commodities.

In 2024, ERG adopted a comprehensive decarbonization strategy aimed at reducing emissions by 6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) by 2035. In 2023, the group’s emissions in Kazakhstan totaled 29.2 million metric tons of CO2e.

Of the planned reductions, 4.3 million tons CO2e (71%) are expected to come from the use of renewable energy, including the Khromtau project and other upcoming green initiatives. This shift is crucial for ERG to maintain competitiveness in international markets, especially in the European Union, where starting in 2026, imported goods such as steel, iron, fertilizer, electricity, cement and aluminum will be subject to a carbon border tax if their production exceeds certain emission thresholds.

By adopting renewable energy, Kazakhstani metallurgical and oil producers can reduce the carbon intensity of their exports, improving market access and economic sustainability.