BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29. Construction has officially begun on one of Kazakhstan’s largest green energy investment projects - a 1-gigawatt (GW) wind power plant in the Zhambyl region of southern Kazakhstan.
This was announced in a report published by the Kazakh Ministry of Energy following the capsule-laying ceremony via teleconference, which was attended by Vice Minister of Energy Sungat Yessimkhanov, Chairman of the Management Board of Samruk-Kazyna Nurlan Zhakupov, and Chief Executive Officer of UAE-based investment company Masdar Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi.
According to the ministry, with an estimated investment of around $1.4 billion, the project is expected to help address electricity shortages in the country’s southern regions.
The ministry notes that the project is expected to contribute to the development of renewable energy and support the country’s long-term carbon neutrality agenda.
“Partnership with Masdar contributes to the development of renewable energy and advances Kazakhstan’s progress toward carbon neutrality. This project will strengthen regional energy security and bring advanced technologies into the renewable energy sector. We highly value our partners’ willingness to invest in the country’s sustainable development and will provide the necessary support for the successful implementation of all stages of the project,” Yessimkhanov said.
One of the project’s key technological features is the integration of wind generation with a large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS). The facility will include a 300 MW storage system with a capacity of 600 MWh.
The storage component is expected to improve grid reliability by enabling a stable electricity supply despite weather fluctuations and helping manage peak evening demand.
The consortium’s investors and shareholders include Masdar with a 40% stake, W Solar (40%), Kazakhstan’s Qazaq Green Power, part of the Samruk-Kazyna fund (18%), and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund (KIDF) with 2%.
From an environmental perspective, the project is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 2.5 million tons annually, supporting Kazakhstan’s national climate targets.
The full commercial commissioning of the wind complex is scheduled for the third quarter of 2029.
