At the government session chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, measures were considered to fulfill the instructions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, which were given at an expanded meeting of the Government on Feb. 8, 2022. The Minister of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bulat Aqchulaqov reported on the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the department.

The Ministry of Energy, jointly interested government agencies and the National Gas Operator KazTransGas JSC, is developing a Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Gas Industry, aimed at "rebooting" the entire industry.

The draft Comprehensive Plan developed by the Ministry includes the following activities:

First. Increasing the gas resource base through geological exploration and new gas production projects at new and existing fields.

“In order to increase gas resources, preferences are needed for gas projects at all stages and the construction of a supply infrastructure. In addition, the issues of providing an incentive price for subsoil users, as well as reviewing gas injection programs for expediency are being worked out,” the Minister of Energy said during his speech.

Second. The Ministry is working on a new gas pricing model that should take into account the limited resources of Kazakh gas and the increase in prices to commercial consumers to the level of market prices.

Third. The main gas transmission infrastructure was largely built during the Soviet era and requires large capital investments to maintain safe operation.

“It is necessary to conduct a technical audit of the state of the gas transportation infrastructure, as well as identify sources of financing and mechanisms for the return of investments,” Aqchulaqov said.

Fourth. In order to continue sustainable gasification, the Ministry of Energy will update the general gasification scheme, simplify the rules for transferring gasification facilities to the balance of the National Operator.

According to forecasts of the department, the adoption of the above measures will allow by 2030:

- to increase the production of marketable gas to 42 billion cubic meters;

- to increase the reliability of the gas infrastructure;

- to establish the necessary pricing model, taking into account price containment for socially vulnerable segments of the population;

- to increase the gas supply coverage of the country up to 65%.

As part of the implementation of the country's energy security policy, the Ministry of Energy has developed the country's energy balance until 2035. According to this document, the level of electricity consumption is projected at 153 billion kWh, this figure is due to the growing economic growth and population growth.

“At the same time, there is a gradual decrease in the generation of existing power plants from 108 billion kWh in 2020 to 88.6 billion kWh in 2035. The energy balance proposes to establish the “Green with NPP” scenario as a target vision for the development of the industry, which involves the commissioning of 17.5 GW of electric power. This scenario focuses on green energy sources, gas and nuclear generation,” the Minister of Energy said during his speech.

Currently, 31 countries around the world operate nuclear power plants. As of February this year, there are 439 power reactors in the world with a total capacity of about 390 GW, 52 reactors are under construction in 19 countries of the world.

Nuclear energy accounts for 10% of the world's total electricity generation. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, electricity generation from nuclear power plants of all countries is predicted to grow by 1.8 times by 2050 — from 390 GW in 2021 to 715 GW in 2050.

“We rank first in the world in terms of natural uranium production. At the same time, it must be taken into account that 1 kg of uranium releases energy equivalent to energy when burning 50 tons of coal. We have our own production of nuclear fuel components, and our country also has access to uranium isotope enrichment services,” Minister Aqchulaqov said.

Last year, a plant for the production of finished nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in China was opened on the basis of the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. The country has begun active production of nuclear fuel.

“Given the upcoming shortage of electricity, the need to reduce dependence on coal generation due to the global environmental agenda, depreciation of production facilities, as well as the huge potential of Kazakhstan in the development of nuclear energy in the country, the construction of a nuclear power plant seems to be the most promising solution,” said the head of the Ministry of Energy.

As part of resolving the issue of bringing digital mining out of the shadows, the Minister of Energy announced the forthcoming audit of the issued technical conditions of consumers for the purposes and actual volume of electricity consumption.