ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 10. Kazakhstan's KEGOC (Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company) has launched a project to connect the power grid of Western Kazakhstan with the Unified Electricity System (UES) of the country, the company told Trend.
According to the company, the connection of the Western Zone with the main part of the UES of Kazakhstan across the territory of the country will ensure energy security for the western regions of the country, and will also allow the use of maneuverable generation in the Western Zone to compensate for imbalances in electricity and capacity in the Northern and Southern zones of the energy system.
The transmission capacity of the Western Zone will be increased to 500 MW.
The project includes the construction of a 500 kV power transmission line "Karabatan" - "Ulke" with a length of 604.3 km, the reconstruction and expansion of the 500 kV "Ulke", as well as the construction of a 500 kV outdoor switchgear "Karabatan". The project will be financed using KEGOC’s own funds and borrowed funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The project is scheduled for completion in December 2027.
Meanwhile, electricity production in Kazakhstan amounted to 112.8 billion kWh in 2023. Electricity imports during this period amounted to 3.4 billion kWh, and exports were 1.4 billion kWh.
At the same time, in 2023, the volume of electricity consumption was at the level of 115 billion kWh (in 2022, 112.9 billion kWh).
The nation now boasts 220 power plants, of which 144 are renewable energy facilities with a combined capacity of 2.8 GW. Generally speaking, the capacity was 20.4 GW overall as of January 1, 2024, and the highest usage for the current autumn-winter season was 16.6 GW.