The country may have its own enterprise for the production of components for wind farms

In May, during the state visit of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to China, several important documents were signed that will give a new impetus to the development of renewable energy in our country.

One of them is the construction of a 1 GW wind farm in Zhambyl region. A memorandum of co-operation to kick-start this project was signed in Xi'an by the Samruk-Kazyna JSC, the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, the China Power International Holding Ltd. (CPIH) and SANY Renewable Energy Co., Ltd (SANY RE).

This project, as officially announced, will increase the total installed capacity of renewable generation in Kazakhstan by 40 %. At the same time, an energy storage facility will be built next to the park of "wind turbines", which will smooth out fluctuations in wind generation when weather conditions change.

This project will become another renewable energy "giant" that is planned to be realized in Kazakhstan. Similar plans have already been announced, for example, by France's Total Eren and Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power. In all cases, they are talking about the construction of 1 GW wind farms, which will contribute to the fight against energy shortages in the country.

However, the difference between the Chinese project and others is the plans to localize the production of equipment for wind farms. Thus, in May it became known about the plans of the CPIH to build in Kazakhstan "several modern plants for the production of nacelles and blades for wind turbines".

SANY RE, one of the world's leading suppliers of such equipment, may become a partner of this industrial project. Mr. Tokhan Janat, General Manager of SANY RE for Central Asia Region, reminded on the sidelines of the international RES business festival "QAZAQ GREEN FEST 2023" that Kazakhstan has very good conditions for the development of wind energy.

He also confirmed that there are indeed plans for localization as part of the wind farm construction project. However, according to him, it is yet to be determined what exactly will be produced and in what volumes.

"We have concluded an agreement for (the construction of a wind farm with a capacity of. - Auth.) 1 GW with the Samruk-Kazyna JSC, and one of the investors will be the CPIH. This includes our localization plan - to organize the production of elements in Kazakhstan. There will be meetings on what exactly to produce. Kazakhstan has a lot of resources that are needed for the production of equipment elements, and this proximity is convenient for organizing production," Mr. Tokhan Janat said.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh media reported back in April that SANY RE proposed to build a plant in Zhambyl region to produce wind turbine.

Mr. Tokhan Janat meanwhile pointed out that SANY RE already offers Kazakhstan partners two types of wind modules with 5 megawatt and 6.25 megawatt turbines. "They are very suitable for the conditions of Kazakhstan," the speaker emphasized.

By the way, in Kazakhstan, this company has already acted as a supplier of equipment for several RES projects. One of them is a wind farm near the town of Arkalyk in the Kostanai region. There they are installing 10 sets of equipment with turbines with a capacity of 4.8 MW each. Thus, the capacity of the future station will be 48 MW, and it will be able to provide the surrounding rural areas and businesses with clean energy.

It should be noted that Chinese partners are generally actively involved in Kazakhstan's RES projects. For example, the State Energy Investment Corporation of China launched a 100 MW wind farm in Sarysu district of Zhambyl region in 2021, and another 100 MW Shokpar wind farm is expected to be commissioned in 2024.

Kazakhstan as a whole has great potential for wind energy development, and now this sector is reaching a new level. By the end of 2022, 46 wind farms with a capacity of 958 MW were operating across the country, but there could be more in the foreseeable future.

In case of successful localization of production of wind turbine components, our country will be able to implement new projects more actively, and thus achieve its goals of "greening" its energy system faster.