Renewable energy in Kazakhstan

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2018)

There is enormous potential for renewable energy in Kazakhstan, particularly from wind and small hydropower plants. The Republic of Kazakhstan has the potential to generate 10 times as much power as it currently needs from wind energy alone. But renewable energy accounts for just 0.6 percent of all power installations. Of that, 95 percent comes from small hydropower projects.^[1] The main barriers to investment in renewable energy are relatively high financing costs and an absence of uniform feed-in tariffs for electricity from renewable sources. 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. Power from wind, solar, biomass and water up to 35 MW, plus geothermal sources, are eligible for the tariff and transmission companies are required to purchase the energy of renewable energy producers. An amendment that introduces and clarifies technology-specific tariffs is now being prepared. It is expected to be adopted by Parliament by the end of 2014.^{[needs update]} 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.^[2]

Kazakhstan is a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (1995) and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2009. Kazakhstan has committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.^[3] Having more renewable energy in the energy balance of Kazakhstan is one of the most effective mechanisms to reduce harmful effects of the energy sector and to diversify the national power generation capacity.

To help Kazakhstan meet its goals for renewable energy generation, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is launching the Kazakhstan Renewable Energy Financing Facility (KazREFF). 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. The Facility comprises an amount of up to €50 million for financing projects together with up to €20 million of concessional finance from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), and the technical assistance funded by the Japanese government through the Japan-EBRD Cooperation Fund (JECF).^[4]

In 2019, Kazakhstan launched 21 renewable energy facilities. The amount of green energy doubled over three years. In 2017, stations with renewable energy sources generated more than one billion kWh. In 2019, this indicator grew to nearly 2.5 billion kWh.^[5] As of 2020, there are 97 operating renewable energy facilities in Kazakhstan with over half of the renewable power generated by solar power plants.^[6]