Development Bank of Kazakhstan continues work to support projects in renewable energy sector

By Trend

Development Bank of Kazakhstan continues to support projects in renewable energy sector of the country, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Development Bank of Kazakhstan Botagoz Abisheva told Trend on October 16.

According to her, currently Kazakhstan has set ambitious goals to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In this regard, work is underway on a strategy that provides for economic, technological and social transformations.

"About 80 percent of green house gas emissions are associated with the production of energy using fossil fuels, which is the main factor influencing the climate in the country. In this regard, one of the key areas of work to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the environment, as well as reduce the 'carbon footprint' is to increase the share of energy generated from renewable sources," she said.

According to the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan, a total installed capacity of power plant on renewable energy sources amounted to 2,330 MW, including all the wind, solar and bioelectric power plants as well as small hydropower plants by the end of the the first half of 2022. In total, these stations produced 2,392 million kWh in the first half of the year.

"Thus the share of energy produced by renewable energy sources in the total volume of electricity production has reached 4.24 percent. In general, the Concept for the transition of Kazakhstan to a 'green' economy sets goals to bring the share of renewable energy in the country's energy balance to 6 percent in 2025, 15 percent in 2030 and 50 percent in 2050 (taking into account alternative sources)," Abisheva said.

She noted that the Development Bank also contributes to this work by providing 'long' financing for projects in the field of renewable energy, thanks to which a number of projects have already been implemented and is being implemented.

"The total installed capacity of financed projects amounts to 495 MW, which exceed 21 percent of the current installed capacity of all renewable energy plants in Kazakhstan. After the commissioning of two more projects under financing, the total installed capacity of projects supported by the Development Bank will reach 560 MW," she added.