Portable power solar station in Kazakhstan

At least 50% of the territory of Kazakhstan is suitable for installing solar power plants (Antonov, 2014). However, up until recently, solar resources of the country were not being used for power generation. Kazakhstan is developing solar energy technologies, namely production of photovoltaic modules using local silicon.

In 2019, another solar power plant in Kazakhstan, Saran, with a capacity of 100 MW started its operation in the Karaganda region (Satubaldina, 2020). According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), within the period of 40 years, solar energy has a potential to meet about 20-25% of the energy demand of the country.

As of now, there are 51 solar power plants in operation in Kazakhstan. The government aimed to have 28 solar power plants operational by the end of 2021 and successfully met this goal. The potential of solar energy in Kazakhstan is estimated at 2.5 billion kWh per year.

A few months later, the EBRD loaned another $42.5 million toward a $75 million 63 MW solar photovoltaic power plant that Risen is building in Chulakkurgan, north of Shymkent. China, which now produces 70 percent of the world's solar panels, is well represented in Kazakhstan's new renewable projects, but it is not the only player.

Kazakhstan's largest solar project – a 100 MW field in Saran, Karaganda Province – was opened last year by a German company, also with EBRD backing. Russian engineers doubled capacity at the EBRD-backed Burnoye plant in Zhambyl in 2018.

Nan Yi, chairman of the Chinese energy company, revealed that since 2015, the company has been investing in new energy projects in Kazakhstan, including photovoltaic and wind energy stations.