Renewable Electricity Production and Sustainability of the National and Regional Power Systems of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The government of Kazakhstan is following many other national governments in promoting the development of renewable energy generation through adjustment of the policy environment and investment incentives. The government has started to invest in the construction of wind-, solar- and hydro-energy producing stations, some of which already operate in different regions of Kazakhstan. This paper aims to address the local challenges of the transition to renewable electric energy generation in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan. The authors examine regional challenges associated with introducing renewable energy production, with a focus on the energy market, the regional grid and energy management practices. The findings show that the development of renewable energy in the Almaty region is complicated by the absence of decentralized consumption options, the unreadiness of the regional grid and traditional power stations to accept renewable energy and the centralized old-fashioned management of the energy system. Instead of the expected increase of cheap energy for the private sector, there is an increasing technological and financial burden on traditional energy producers. The findings of the study raise serious research questions for further exploration: what is the real cost of clean energy production for regions of Kazakhstan, and why does public investment in support of renewable energy production not consider the implications of increasing the efficiency of traditional energy production and modernizing regional energy grids?