The Ministry of Energy intends to increase the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in total electricity production to 3% in 2020. Vice Minister of Energy Magzum Mirzagaliyev informed about the work that is being done to achieve this goal within the framework of the press conference in the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

According to the Vice Minister, the share of renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan is currently about 1%.

"This is a fairly good indicator, especially given that we are a country with rich hydrocarbons and coal reserves. In order to go further, we are aimed at attracting the best technologies, also the cheapest ones. Over the past year, significant steps have been taken to improve the investment climate in the renewable energy sector," the Vice Minister said.

As noted by Magzum Mirzagaliyev, the plan for placing the facilities was approved, taking into account the readiness of the network infrastructure and natural and climatic conditions, as well as the principle of partial indexation of fixed tariffs taking into account the floating exchange rate of the national currency. In addition, a reserve fund has been created with a single buyer of renewable energy.

"A new mechanism is being developed that will allow us to move away from fixed tariffs towards the auction method. After implementing this method, we expect that both investments and technologies will enter our country more actively," M. Mirzagaliyev added.

According to him, these measures already give the first results. For example, a Memorandum was signed between the EBRD and the Ministry of Energy on the allocation of $200 million in funds for renewable energy projects in Kazakhstan, with an additional $480 million from other financial institutions. This will introduce about 500 MW of capacity in the coming years.

An agreement on the implementation of projects in the field of wind power with ENI and General Electric was also signed. An agreement was signed on the construction of a solar power station (SPS) in Zhambyl region with a capacity of 50 MW, financing of a SES project in Kyzylorda region with a capacity of 50 MW and a project of a wind farm in Akmola region with a capacity of 100 MW. In addition, agreements were signed to attract the largest Saudi company ACWA Power. Also, negotiations are under way with the Masdar Emirati Company.

"That is, work on promoting renewable energy in our country is quite active," the Vice Minister summed up.