Kazakhstan aims to become a regional hub for data processing and artificial intelligence (AI). Data Center Valley is under construction in Ekibastuz, United States-based Firebird is involved in preparations for a major computing complex, and new fiber-optic lines are expected to connect the country to Europe across the Caspian Sea. Authorities hope to attract billions of dollars in investment and develop hundreds of megawatts (MW) of capacity. The main questions are whether the power grid can meet such demand and whether there will be enough international customers.
Ekibastuz: The First 50 MW of a Promised Gigawatt
At the center of these plans is Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz, an industrial city in northeastern Kazakhstan. The complex is eventually expected to expand to 1 gigawatt (GW) of capacity.
According to the government, the first phase is designed for 50 MW. By August, earthworks were approximately 90% complete, and builders had begun laying foundations, with the first facility scheduled to launch in June 2027.
Firebird AI: $10 Billion in Agreements
On October 2, national telecommunications operator Kazakhtelecom, KT-Telecom, and Firebird AI KZ signed an initial agreement covering the construction and long-term leasing of computing infrastructure.
Earlier, the government announced a package of agreements worth up to $10 billion with Firebird, involving U.S.-based NVIDIA as a technology partner. The project provides for the potential deployment of up to 100,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), specialized chips used to train and run AI systems.
For now, the $10 billion represents the announced value of the agreements. How much money will go directly toward construction and equipment purchases has not been publicly disclosed.
Singapore-based Energy Capital Global has also expressed interest in Kazakhstan’s market. The company is considering a data center campus at Data Center Valley with an initial phase of approximately 100 MW and the potential to expand to 1 GW. In August, it signed a memorandum of understanding with KT-Telecom.
Trans-Caspian Cable: A New Data Transmission Route
Data centers need fast communications links to serve international customers. Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are developing an undersea fiber-optic connection between Aktau and Sumgait.
On October 6, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, Zhaslan Madiyev, announced that the approximately 390-kilometer undersea section of the cable had been completed. The line is scheduled to launch in October 2026.
The Trans-Caspian route is intended to connect China and Central Asia with the South Caucasus and Europe. For Kazakhstan, it offers an opportunity to reduce dependence on Russian transit routes. According to the Caspian Policy Center, approximately 95% of the country’s outbound international internet traffic passes through Russia.
Kazakhstan is also building an approximately 4,500-kilometer West–East fiber-optic backbone, connecting the Caspian coast with the Chinese border. More than 2,200 kilometers have been laid, with construction scheduled for completion by the end of 2026.
The new routes would also provide alternative connections, reducing the risk of widespread disruptions if individual lines are damaged.
The Existing Market: Tens of Megawatts Versus Hundreds Planned
As of October 7, 2026, the industry directory DC Market Insights tracked 29 data centers in Kazakhstan, including 27 operational facilities, one under construction, and one planned.
The directory records approximately 30.7 MW of operational capacity. By comparison, the first phase of Data Center Valley alone is designed for 50 MW. Developing complexes with capacities of hundreds of megawatts could substantially expand the country’s supply of computing services.
However, the data center market is not defined solely by building space and installed electrical capacity. International customers also consider server specifications, cloud service availability, connection speeds, and data hosting conditions.
NVIDIA: AI Needs More Than Servers
NVIDIA Vice President Rev Lebaredian told Kazinform that access to relatively cheap electricity and the construction of data centers do not, by themselves, turn a country into an AI hub.
In his assessment, Kazakhstan needs engineers, researchers, and technology companies capable of developing products using the new infrastructure. He identified language models, enterprise AI systems, digital twins (virtual replicas) of industrial facilities, and physical AI (technologies for controlling robots and other machines) as promising areas.
Kazakhstan is already developing supercomputing infrastructure, including Alem.Cloud. For local developers, additional computing capacity could reduce the need to rent expensive resources abroad. But the competitiveness of Kazakhstan’s services will depend on pricing, equipment quality, and technical support.
Electricity: The Energy Cost of One Gigawatt of Computing Capacity
Data centers operate around the clock. Electricity is needed for servers, cooling, networking equipment, and backup systems. AI complexes with thousands of GPUs are particularly energy-intensive.
If Data Center Valley reaches its planned capacity of 1 GW, its power requirements would be comparable to the combined installed capacity of the two operating generating units at Ekibastuz GRES-2, a coal-fired power station in the city.
New large facilities would require additional generation or a reallocation of available capacity, taking the needs of the wider power system into account. One option under discussion is building dedicated power plants for computing complexes. For example, a 200 MW data center project involving the international JMOT04 consortium envisages construction of a gas-fired power plant with a capacity of up to 250 MW. The preliminary cost of the data center itself is estimated at $1–1.5 billion, with the power facility costing another $200–400 million.
Ekibastuz has substantial coal-fired generating capacity. This provides access to large volumes of electricity but could complicate efforts to attract international customers with emissions-reduction requirements.
From Exporting Raw Materials to Exporting Computing Power
October’s drone strikes on Yandex data centers in Russia disrupted taxi and delivery services in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. For Kazakhstan, the incident highlighted a specific problem: storing users’ data domestically does not guarantee that the services they rely on can operate independently.
Kazakhstan hopes to use its energy resources and geographic position to sell computing services to international customers. For neighboring Central Asian countries, new data centers could provide a geographically closer alternative to infrastructure in Russia, Europe, and Asia, although proximity alone does not guarantee lower prices or better quality.
For all the talk of billion-dollar investments and gigawatt-scale data centers, the first concrete test is far more modest: a 50 MW facility in Ekibastuz. Its performance, and the customers it attracts, will offer an early indication of whether Kazakhstan can turn its ambitions into a competitive industry.
