ASTANA (TCA) — At a press conference on September 5, the First Vice Minister for Investment and Development Alik Aidarbayev explained the reasons for the high energy intensity of Kazakhstan’s economy, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
According to Aidarbayev, the energy intensity of Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product has decreased by 28% compared with 2008.
“We set the task to reduce the energy intensity factor by 25% until 2020 and by 50% until 2050. We are executing this task. The work is conducted on a systematic basis, all the necessary laws have been adopted, and the State Energy Register has been adopted. This Register includes more than five thousand companies that legally must conduct energy audits, develop action plans and work to reduce the energy intensity of their enterprises,” Aidarbayev said.
Despite a significant decline in the energy intensity of industrial GDP, the energy intensity of Kazakhstan’s economy is still quite high. Aidarbayev named several reasons contributing to it.
“First, it is the structure of the economy as a whole. The economy of Kazakhstan is dominated by extractive, raw materials industries. They all consume large amounts of electricity. The next moment is the climatic conditions. In comparison with many countries, we are in a zone where it is necessary to consume a large amount of electricity for heating buildings,” the Vice Minister said.
Aidarbayev said that another reason for the high energy intensity is the fact that Kazakhstan is still at the stage of the economy’s modernization. This means that many enterprises still use old equipment and old technologies. So, the policy which is being implemented today is aimed at re-equipping the basic industries and introducing advanced energy-saving technologies.
