Kazakhstan to finance Wind farms

Kazakhstan will finance installation of wind power stations by farmers, Tengrinews.kz reports citing Vice-PM and Minister of Industry and New Technologies Asset Issekeshev as saying at the government meeting.

“We believe that a good economic and social effect can be reached if citizens start independently using renewable energy sources. In particular, the individuals who have no access to power generation systems can get financial support: 50 percent of the cost of a generator with a capacity of up to 5kW will be financed from the state budget,” Asset Issekeshev said.

According to him, there are currently 1,200 farms and remote pastures in Kazakhstan that have no access to power networks.

“The number of such farms and pastures will reach 4,000 through the agro-industrial development program. We plan to cover a part of the expenses for 400 farms per year. The draft law is being reviewed by the Majilis (Lower Chamber of the Kazakhstan Parliament),” Asset Issekeshev said.

Another way to promote use of renewable energy sources, according to the Minister, is to provide those ready to use renewable energy sources for individual purposes with a way to sell the power they generate by returning it into the network. The suggested measures will provide fir an increase in the existing power generating capacities by 2020.

The current pool of generating capacities of Kazakhstan includes 69 power stations with the total capacity of 20,620 MW. President Nazarbayev instructed to develop alternative power sources and bring their share to at least 50 percent of all the power consumed in Kazakhstan by 2050. This instruction requires a balanced approach and consideration of both ecological and economic components.

“Several measures have been developed and we need develop more measures to ensure sustainable development of the fuel-and-power industries. Some of the steps are being implemented as we speak. An action plan for development of renewable alternative energy to be implemented in 2013-2020 was adopted in the end of January. Its 5 key directions include: (1) actions to support development and use renewable energy sources, (2) development and research of renewable energy, (3) development of local content, (4) popularization of renewable energy policies and (5) implementation of concrete renewable energy projects,” he said.

The plan will help bring generation of alternative energy to 1,040 MW by 2020: 13 wind power plant will be generating 793 MW, 14 hydro-electric plants will be generating 170 MW and 4 solar stations will be generating 77 MW.

“These are the minimum figures. The government is reviewing three documents: the concept of power energy development until 2020, the concept of fuel-and-power industries development and the green economy strategy. They will be come a base for a balanced solution,” Asset Issekeshev added.