Chinese companies are showing interest in participating in projects for the construction of pumped storage power plants (PSPPs) in Kazakhstan, said Zhaslan Kasenov, director of the renewable energy department of the Ministry of Energy.
«One of the new areas that is being considered is the direction of development of pumped storage power plants together with colleagues from «Samruk-Energy», together with colleagues from the fund («Samruk-Kazyna»). This issue is being studied, possible development scenarios are being discussed, and various platforms for their implementation are being considered. A number of Chinese investors are showing interest in working together in this direction», – he said at the Power Central Asia + China forum.
To develop the existing potential of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, a plan for the development of the country’s hydropower industry was developed, which provides for the creation of an atlas of hydropower. The document allows for the possibility of targeted implementation of projects for the full development of the potential of existing rivers.
«Work is underway with the Asian Development Bank to hold so-called project auctions, where the ministry will develop pre-feasibility studies (preliminary feasibility study), pre-EIA (environmental impact assessment), pre-project documentation, and preliminary environmental studies will be carried out in order to conduct auctions at certain sites», – Kasenov said.
In 2026, auctions are expected to be held in the Zhetysu region along the Tentek River, where the total capacity will be at least 300 MW with the construction of dam-type hydroelectric power plants. In addition, according to the auction plan until 2027, it is planned to hold auctions for hydroelectric power stations with a total capacity of more than 1.5 GW.
In his opinion, the direction of hydropower will become one of those mechanisms that will allow us to further develop and increase the share of unstable renewable energy in the overall generation structure of Kazakhstan.
«Today, the renewable energy sector in the energy sector is represented by 156 renewable energy facilities, a large share of which is wind and solar generation, and to a lesser extent, unfortunately, hydropower and bioelectric power plants are represented. Of the volume of renewable energy that is represented in the energy sector today, about half –these are projects implemented with the participation of companies from the Chinese (People’s – «Italics») Republic, that is, today, if our installed capacity is more than 3 GW, of which about 1.7 GW were implemented by Chinese companies», he said.
The head of the department said that today the implementation of new projects in Kazakhstan is being discussed with companies such as China Power and China Energy. At the end of 2024, the share of renewable energy generation in the overall generation structure was 6.43%. By 2030, the republic plans to increase this figure to 15%.
In 2025, it was planned to introduce an additional 450 MW of renewable energy, of which three renewable energy stations have already been commissioned. This is a wind power plant in the Karaganda region and two solar power plants with a capacity of 40 MW each in the southern regions of Kazakhstan.
«We expect that by 2030 the established indicators that we have set – 15% by 2030 are quite feasible and achievable, taking into account all the projects that are planned to be implemented before 2030. This is at least 8 GW of new capacity. According to a realistic scenario, by 2030 the share of renewable energy in the country’s overall generation structure will be about 16%», – said a representative of the Ministry of Energy.
According to him, there are already companies that are independently ready to implement large renewable energy projects. In particular, an auction was held at which the executor of a large project for the construction of a 1 GW wind power plant with an energy storage system of 300 MW was selected. The Kazakh company Turan Wind Energy won the auction. Kasenov said that a 51% share in the winning company belongs to the Kazakh side, and a 49% – share to the Chinese Universal Energy, Kasenov specified.
The project will be implemented in the Kostanay region. The cost of electricity will be 18.72 tenge, or about 3.6 US cents per kWh. In April, it was reported that Turan Wind Energy won the auction for the construction of a 1,000 MW wind power plant (WPP), which is planned to be built in northern Kazakhstan, the auction organizer – KOREM reported. The co-owners of Turan Wind Energy are the former chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan (headed the National Bank in 1996-1998) Oraz Zhandosov, Singaporean Universal International Engineering Holding PTE LTD. and Erlan Kozhasbay through Sadu EcoPower.
For comparison, the cost of electricity from a 1 GW wind power plant with a 300 MW storage system with Total Eren will be 3.99 cents per kWh (the length of the power transmission line will be 230 km), from a wind farm with Masdar for 1 GW and a storage system for 300 MW – 4.49 cents per kWh (power line length – 425 km), wind farm with a capacity of 500 MW and a storage system of 150 MW with the Chinese Energy China – 4.25 cents per kWh (power line length – 15 km), solar power plant Energy China with a power storage system of 90 MW – 5.63 cents (power line length – 15 km), wind farms with CPIH per 1 GW and an accumulation system of 300 MW – 4.25 cents per kWh (power lines – 120 km). a 1 GW solar power plant and an energy storage system of 300 MW will be built by Unigreen (the length of the power line is determined, but the Ministry of Energy does not disclose the cost of electricity).
Zhanbolat Mamyshev («Italics»)
