Renewable energy in Kazakhstan
The amount and duration of renewable energy feed-in tariffs are separately evaluated for each project, based on feasibility studies and project-specific generation costs.
In addition, the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business indicator shows the country to be relatively investor-friendly, ranking it in 10th position for investor protection.
The KazREFF aims to provide development support and debt finance to renewable energy projects which meet required commercial, technical and environmental criteria.
Renewable energy technologies supported will include solar, wind, small hydropower, geothermal, biomass, and biogas.
This promotes technology-specific feed-in tariffs for selected renewable energy technologies, such as biomass, solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, up to 35 MW.
[8] On November 22, 2012 Astana was chosen by the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) as the venue to host EXPO-2017, which focused on future energy issues.
The selection of Astana to serve as host city is especially notable, because EXPO-2017 was the first time that a major international exhibition of this kind was held in a country from the former Soviet Union.
[9] In 2021, the city of Almaty has announced plans to increase production of renewable energy and green heat supply in the next 5 years.
[11] One of the important areas of energy efficiency of Kazakhstan's economy is construction of hydroelectric power plants on small rivers operating without retaining dams.
According to experts, with the smaller hydropower stations installed, about 8 billion kWh can be produced per year, and this is more than enough to meet the demand that is now satisfied through imports from Central Asia.
In December 2011 the Moynak hydropower plant (300 MW) was put into operation within the realization of the State Program for Rapid Industrial-innovative Development.
[15] Kazakhstan has areas with high insolation that could be suitable for solar power, particularly in the south of the country, receiving between 2200 and 3000h of sunlight per year, which equals 1200–1700 kW/m2 annually.
[22] About 50% of Kazakhstan's territory has average wind speeds suitable for energy generation (4–6 m/s) with the strongest potential in the Caspian Sea, central and northern regions.
[23] Currently, the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies selected 10 sites to build large wind power plants (WPP) with total capacity of 1,000 MW with a view to commercial production of electricity in the amount of 2-3 billion kWh.
The Vostok biogas unit consists of two 2400 m3 digesters operating with a feedstock of 40 t/day of cow, sheep and camel manure, grain residues and 1t/day of slaughterhouse waste.
[31] In spite of considerable renewable energy potential there are still significant barriers to address including: low electricity tariffs; transmission losses and inefficient technologies; weak regulatory and legal frameworks to stimulate the use of renewable energy in the electricity sector; persistent governmental body reforms; inadequate levels and quality of scientific support; awareness and information barriers; and a high-risk business environment.
Thus, the Kazakhstan Centre for Modernisation and Development of Housing and Communal Services moved to a new building equipped with energy-saving wind and solar energy systems.
[36] One of Kazakhstan's primary goals in its transition to green economy set by President Nazarbayev is to achieve 50% of total electricity to be generated by renewable sources by 2050.
[38] The Framework's goal is to help the country respond to the challenges of climate change, increase investments in renewables, provide technical assistance and build institutional capacity.
Due to the feed-in tariffs limitations, Kazakhstan transitioned to auctions in 2017 to capitalize on falling renewable energy prices.
