QAZAQ GREEN.  Kazakhstan's energy sector is undergoing a large-scale transformation, striving to create a sustainable and modern infrastructure. Nurlan Kapenov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qazaq Green Renewable Energy Sources Association, shared an analysis of the industry's development: from the first legislative steps to the implementation of advanced energy storage systems in partnership with global leaders.

From fixed tariffs to transparent auctions

The history of mass development of renewable energy sources (RES) in the country began in 2014 with the introduction of a fixed tariff mechanism. As Kapenov notes: "The first RES law was adopted in 2009. However, those mechanisms did not provide the opportunity to attract investment". A fundamental shift occurred in 2018 with the transition to an electronic auction system. Today, these are "very transparent, clear electronic auctions" that allow any company in the world to compete for the right to implement solar, wind, hydro, or biogas generation projects at the lowest price.

Bridging the gap: battery energy storage system (BESS)

Despite a decade of success in RES generation, Kazakhstan faced a complete lack of expertise in the field of energy accumulation. "While green electricity has been developing for 10 years in Kazakhstan, storage systems are completely absent... there isn't even a single pilot project," emphasizes Chairman of Qazaq Green. The absence of legislation, standards, and technical regulations became a barrier for investors, while the country began to lag technologically behind global trends.

Strategic alliance with Huawei and the White Paper

The solution was an initiative by Huawei, a strategic partner of the association, to develop a "White Paper" on energy storage systems. The work was carried out jointly with the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the system operator KEGOC, and the Financial Settlement Center for Renewable Energy Sources LLP, involving the best global experts. The results of this work sparked widespread interest not only in power engineering but also in the oil and gas sector, as well as in the mining and crypto-mining industries.

Reliability proven in practice

Nurlan Kapenov also noted the high reliability of Huawei technologies, based on his own business experience in constructing solar plants since 2018. The decisive factor in favor of Huawei was the level of service in Kazakhstan. Kapenov recalls an incident in 2018: when an inverter failed at a station, the 24/7 call center and the presence of a service center in Almaty allowed for the equipment to be replaced in just one day.

"I regard Huawei as a key strategic partner," concludes Nurlan Kapenov, emphasizing the company's importance for both the business community represented by Qazaq Green and for private investors. This collaboration focuses on developing energy storage systems and modernizing Kazakhstan's power grid.

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Публикация от Huawei Technologies Kazakhstan (@huaweikazakhstan)