Kazakhstan has abundant hydro resources, which are mainly concentrated in the eastern and southern parts of the country.  Today, 15 large hydropower stations (>50 MW) with a total capacity of 2.25 GW account for up to 13 per cent of the country’s total generating capacity.

Kazakhstan positions itself as a promising country for the development and implementation of hydropower projects on its territory. The state sets an ambitious plan of achieving the 50% share of electricity production in the country using renewable energy sources by 2050 (hereinafter – the “RES”).

Hydro energy resources are distributed throughout the country, but three areas have particularly large resources: the Irtysh River basin and its main tributaries (Bukhtarma, Uba, Ulba, Kurchum, Kardzhil), the southeast zone with the Ili river basin, and the south zone with the Syrdarya, Talas and Chu river basins.

Overview

The purpose of the Project is the construction of 4x cascade of small HPPs with a total capacity of 33.00 MW

The project has a local and regional scope. The project is intended to cover the basic part of the electrical load schedules of the Almaty power center, Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The cascade on the River consists of 4x small hydropower plants. Each HPP of the cascade is a combination of hydraulic structures and technological equipment, convert the gravitational energy of water into mechanical energy of the flow and then into electrical energy, which is subsequently delivered to consumers.

Keypoints

• Status: Ready to Build
• Project Objectives: Construction of a cascade of small HPPs in the Almaty region for: a source of environmentally friendly electricity for supply to consumers in the Almaty region; increasing the reliability of the energy system of the region. – reducing the shortage of electricity in the Almaty region.
• Installed capacity: 33 MW (Estimated)
• Electricity generation: 140 GW / Year (Estimated)
• Electricity tariff with VAT/without VAT: 41,23 Tenge per kWh (0,093 USD / kW)
  Technology: Hydro units with radial-axial turbines (2x Turbine “Ossberger” for 4 HPPs)