Kazakhstan’s pipeline of large-scale solar projects stands at 900 MW, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said at a meeting of the Kurultai Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Energy. He described solar as one of the ministry’s priority areas for development.
Solar capacity reached 1.37 GW as of April, while total renewable energy capacity exceeded 3.7 GW. Renewables account for 8.5% of the country’s electricity mix, according to government figures cited in the update.
Kazakhstan aims to deploy at least 8.4 GW of additional renewable capacity by 2035, including about 1.8 GW of solar, Akkenzhenov said. Separately, the government plans to commission 13.3 GW of new generation capacity by the end of 2029. Of that total, 7.4 GW is expected to come from baseload generation.
The minister said the planned projects are intended to meet expected electricity demand from households and the economy, supply power to artificial-intelligence infrastructure and large data centers, and create a 20% generation-capacity surplus.
The ministry’s update also coincides with work on Kazakhstan’s first professional standards for the renewable energy sector. At an October 29 meeting, the ministry’s Sectoral Council on Professional Qualifications in Renewable Energy discussed five draft standards covering solar, wind and green hydrogen.
The proposed standards would set qualification requirements for specialists involved in the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of solar and wind power plants. The ministry says the drafts are expected to be published on the Open Portal of Legal Acts for public discussion in the near future.
Sources: pv magazine.