– Ainur Saparbekovna, why is short-term education becoming relevant at the current stage?

– Recently, the growing demand for renewable energy has become noticeable, its potential is becoming more significant. In this regard, it can be argued that in the next 20 years, short-term training courses on this topic will become critically important for the industry. Even those graduates who have recently graduated from universities and colleges will have to replenish their knowledge in the workplace. Therefore, they will need to complete continuous professional training courses.

With this need in mind, our Association has opened Qazaq Green Renewable Energy School.

The course is designed taking into account the principle of flexibility. This means that the course can be adapted both for beginners in the field of renewable energy, and for experienced professionals who want to replenish their knowledge.

– How did the idea of creating the Qazaq Green Renewable Energy School come about?

– In the course of working with market participants, decision makers, companies and the corporate sector, we came to the conclusion that a lot of people lack knowledge, understanding of what renewable energy sources are, what are the advantages of using them, how to implement projects.

We must be ready for the fact that the public, the population, and the corporate sector will actively participate in the processes of energy transition in Kazakhstan. This transition to "clean" energy sources should take place pragmatically, according to a smoother, softer scenario, since it all concerns both attracting investment and influencing tariffs, the energy system and, in general, the Earth's climate. The lack of competence and information about renewable energy is one of the main challenges of these processes. It is important that people obtain new knowledge, basics, skills of working with "green" technologies in the energy sector, so we decided that Renewable Energy School in RES Association "Qazaq Green" will be a logical continuation of the work that we have been doing over the past years.

We believe that knowledge related to renewable energy should be transferred not by theorists, but by people who have practical experience. We, the experts who worked on development of legislation to support renewable energy, implemented and built renewable energy projects in Kazakhstan, attracted investments, have something to pass on to those who need it, and we believe that our School will be able to do it.

– Are there similar courses on the market? Please tell us about the goals and objectives of the Qazaq Green Renewable Energy School.

– There are, of course, similar short-term courses at universities.  But our courses are different in that we have practical experience in implementing renewable energy projects. There is a second important point. We plan to organize a renewable energy landfill on the territory of our Association's office, where students will be able to get acquainted with various renewable energy technologies in practice, visually, work with ready-made renewable energy installations or on a mock-up, get information from the stands about the principles of operation of these energy sources. And this is very important, especially for those who would like to have a renewable energy installation in their home or use it in a farm.

For example, it is useful for farmers to see how the installation works, how to maintain it, what are the nuances associated with the technological solution. The most important thing is how to support this installation, because there are a lot of myths that installations do not work correctly, that it is impossible to support them without the participation of experts. In fact, these installations are quite simple to maintain. It is at these courses that we want to debunk such "legends".

– Who is the target audience of your School? Will this course be useful for young people?

– I think our target audience is very broad. If we structure it, first of all, I would recommend that representatives of state and local executive bodies responsible for development and implementation of policies related to renewable energy and climate change, take these courses. For example, akimats, within the framework of their functions, are obliged to allocate a land plot for investors who would like to implement renewable energy projects. Here absolutely simple questions arise: what should be the size of the land plot, what should be taken into account when allocating this land plot, how to calculate the potential of the land plot where investors want to build this facility. Akimat employees should at least know the basics of how renewable energy sources work, understand how to implement such projects, and generally understand the principles of state policy in this area.

The second category is representatives of the corporate sector. We have a lot of companies – oil, oil and gas, mining and metallurgical. These are large consumers of electricity who are now asking the question of how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the carbon footprint of manufactured products. And here one of the most effective ways to reduce CO₂ emissions is implementation of renewable energy projects instead of "dirty" coal generation.

These companies can replace RES with old energy sources and thus reduce the carbon footprint of their finished products. The corporate sector, before thinking about the company's strategy to reduce emissions, should understand the basics of renewable energy.

The third category is, of course, young people who are standing in the way of choosing a profession today. From this point of view, it will probably be interesting for them to study at these courses. Thanks to the knowledge gained, young people will be able to choose a profession related to renewable energy. 

There are a lot of professions related to renewable energy around the green energy sector – lawyers, financiers who work with renewable energy projects, design institutes, consulting companies. It is important that young people understand that very many professions will disappear in the next 10-30 years, and specialties related to energy transition, with "clean" energy, on the contrary, will develop.

Kazakhstan has committed itself to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Accordingly, those sectors that will allow us to carry out this strategic course will develop. It is through training courses related to the basics of renewable energy that young people will change their thinking and strive to work in the sectors of the "green" economy.

Thus, our Qazaq Green Renewable Energy School will contribute to achieving carbon neutrality in Kazakhstan.

– Thank you for the informative conversation. We wish Qazaq Green Renewable Energy School success!