Zhambyl oblast continues to lead the country in developing green technologies with nine renewable energy projects worth $390 million and a total energy output of 186 megawatts being implemented in the region.
Chief among the oblast’s renewable energy providers is a hydropower plant launched in May 2013 by the A & T Energo Company at the Tasotkel water reservoir that has already generated about 3.5 million kilowatts.
Other projects in the region include the three-year-old Merken HPS-3 plant (1.5 MW) on the Merkenka River, which produces up to 6.5 million kW of low-cost electricity per year. The station has significantly reduced power shortages in the oblast and raised demand for products of local industries.
In 2011, the Kordai wind power plant of the same capacity was also put into operation. At the end of 2012, KazEcoWatt launched the country’s first solar electric plant, Otar (504 kW), in Kordai district. This year it will reach its designed capacity of 7 MW, enough to light and heat the whole region.
This year saw the Karakystak HPS (2.1 MW) put into operation in Ryskulov district in July, the French company Fonroche Energie SAS begins construction of a solar power plant with a capacity of 24 MW in Zhambyl district and a range of Merken HPSs (19.8 MW) planned in collaboration with Russian investors.
The Central Asia Green Power Company will also construct a wind power plant (100 MW) in Sarysu district. A second wind station (4 MW) will appear in Kordai district.
Through renewable energy sources, in the near future the oblast will not only provide its residents with electric power, but also will supply it to other regions.
The cost of electricity generated by environmentally friendly alternative sources is cheaper than that from conventional methods. For example, one kW of energy from Tasotkel HPS will cost 11 tenge.
President Nazarbayev urged the development of green technologies and energy security in his Kazakhstan 2050 address to the nation.
