Our People > Dmitry Pokidaev

Dmitry Pokidaev

Journalist

Dmitry Pokidaev is a journalist based in Astana, Kazakhstan, with experience at some of the country's top media outlets. Before his career in journalism, Pokidaev worked as an academic, teaching Russian language and literature.

Articles

Agricultural technologies

Kazakhstan Tests Drone System for Releasing Beneficial Insects To Fight Agricultural Pests

Kazakh scientists have developed BioDrop, a system in which drones scatter biodegradable capsules containing beneficial insects over fields to combat agricultural pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, tests showed that the treatment takes several times less time than manually releasing entomophagous insects, while biological control effectiveness reaches 81%-83%. The technology is already being used by four farms. The system was developed by specialists at the Zhazken Zhiyembayev Kazakh Research Institute of Plant Protection and Quarantine. It consists of a drone, an automated dispensing device, and biodegradable spherical capsules. Inside the capsules are entomophagous insects — natural enemies of agricultural pests. BioDrop uses Trichogramma, microscopic parasitoid wasps that attack pest eggs, and Habrobracon hebetor, which targets pest larvae. The insects pose no danger to people or plants. The drone follows a predetermined route across a field and automatically releases the capsules. Their design protects the biological material when they land, after which the insects emerge and begin searching for pests. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 14 days after entomophagous insects were released manually, biological control effectiveness stood at 70%-73%. BioDrop achieved 81%-83%. Treating the experimental plot manually took 1-1.5 hours, while the drone completed the same work in 10-15 minutes, including equipment preparation. The Kazakh system follows an increasingly visible international trend in agriculture. Researchers in China previously developed an automated drone-based system for releasing Trichogramma. In field trials, it achieved more than 99% effective coverage of the target area and an average pest-control effectiveness of about 84%. Similar experiments have been conducted in Canada, where drones were used to release Trichogramma against pests affecting corn and forests. Researchers noted that traditional manual placement of biological control agents is time-consuming, while aerial application can be expensive. Kazakhstan has also been testing drones for biological crop protection for several years. Researchers from the same institute have used biological preparations on several crops and UAVs to release entomophagous insects against cotton bollworm. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has included this work in its repository of green agriculture practices. The FAO says UAV releases achieved biological effectiveness of 70% against the second generation of cotton bollworm and 82.6% against the third. BioDrop develops this work into an integrated delivery system. A study by Kazakh researchers published in June 2026 describes biodegradable capsules produced using 3D printing and field trials in which biological effectiveness ranged from 69.5% to 82.8%. Practical use of BioDrop is still limited to four farms. The ministry has not provided details about the scale of its use on those farms, leaving its performance over larger commercial areas unclear. Drones are already being used in Kazakhstan’s agriculture to monitor soil and crop conditions. In the East Kazakhstan Region, researchers are combining drone imagery with artificial intelligence to assess fields and plan agricultural operations.

2 weeks ago

CERN

Kazakh Scientists to Gain More Opportunities to Work at CERN

Kazakhstan is preparing an agreement with CERN that would give its scientists more opportunities to participate in experiments and undertake research internships at one of the world’s leading particle physics centers. The talks come as the country begins developing nuclear power plants and faces a growing need for highly qualified physicists and engineers. The prospect was discussed at a meeting between Kazakhstan’s acting Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek and CERN Director-General Mark Thomson. The two sides have already prepared a draft protocol expanding their 2018 cooperation agreement. The proposed mechanism would allow Kazakh scientists to undertake research internships and participate in CERN projects through the Scientific Internships program of Kazakhstan’s Center for International Programs. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, was founded in 1954. Its vast scientific complex is located near Geneva on the border between Switzerland and France. It is home to the Large Hadron Collider, a 27-kilometer particle accelerator, used by physicists to accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, collide them, and study the fundamental structure of matter. The ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, one of the most important breakthroughs in modern physics. CERN has 25 Member States and another 11 Associate Member States. Kazakhstan belongs to neither group. Its cooperation with the organization is based on the 2018 agreement. The draft protocol is intended to create a more formal mechanism for Kazakh researchers to participate in CERN research. For Kazakhstan, training scientists and engineers has become more pressing following the decision to develop nuclear power. In an October 2024 referendum, 71.12% of those who voted supported the construction of a nuclear power plant. In June 2025, Russia’s Rosatom was selected to lead the consortium building the country’s first nuclear power plant near the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, about 400 kilometers from Almaty. Kazakhstan has since expanded those ambitions. A nuclear industry strategy approved in April 2026 calls for at least three nuclear power plants to be operating by 2050. China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has been selected to lead the development of Kazakhstan’s second nuclear power plant. Plans for a third plant are also being developed, although the technology and contractor have not yet been definitively determined. Buying reactors alone will not be enough – the country also needs its own specialists. Kazakhstan is already allocating dedicated places under the international Bolashak scholarship program to train nuclear energy professionals, while local universities are launching programs for future nuclear power plant employees. Bolashak is a state-funded program that pays for Kazakh citizens to study at universities abroad. While CERN does not train nuclear power plant operators, working at the center can give physicists and engineers experience with particle accelerators, sophisticated detectors, computing systems, and international scientific experiments. For Kazakhstan, this offers an opportunity to develop its own scientific expertise in parallel with training personnel specifically for nuclear power plants.

2 weeks ago

Agriculture

Weather Boosts Early Kazakhstan Grain Harvest

An unusually hot summer has led to an earlier grain harvest in Kazakhstan. Farmers have already collected 7.7 million tons of grain from roughly a third of the country’s grain-growing area, almost twice as much land as had been harvested at the same point last year. The first batches of wheat are also showing noticeably better quality – an important factor for Kazakhstan’s grain exports to Central Asia and other markets. By this point in 2025, farmers had collected 3.9 million tons of grain, compared with 7.7 million tons this year. The government said in mid-August that warm weather had brought the harvest forward, adding that newer farm machinery and modern farming technology had helped farmers increase the pace. It is still too early to say whether Kazakhstan will repeat its record harvest of 2025. Last year, the country produced more than 27 million tons of grain, including 20.3 million tons of wheat. Expectations for this year had been more cautious. Dry conditions in central and eastern Kazakhstan raised concerns about a smaller crop, and some industry experts suggested production could fall by 15%-20% from last year. The early results, however, suggest the wheat may be of better quality. Of the soft wheat already delivered to grain elevators and tested, 78% has been classified as Grade 3 and another 14% as Grade 4. Grade 5 and ungraded wheat account for 7%. Grade 3 wheat is suitable for flour and bread production. The early figures compare favorably with last year, when 53% of soft wheat was classified in Grades 1-3 and 35% as Grade 4. Gluten levels, another measure of wheat quality, are also strong. Of the wheat tested, 56% has a gluten content above 28%, while another 19% is in the 25%-27% range. That promises to be a boon for exports. Kazakhstan is a major supplier of grain and flour to Central Asia, and also sells to Afghanistan, China, and other markets. A larger share of higher-quality wheat gives exporters more opportunities to sell into higher-value markets. Kazakhstan is also changing what it grows. The government has been reducing the area planted with wheat and encouraging farmers to grow more oilseeds and other more profitable crops. In 2025, the oilseed harvest reached a record of nearly 5 million tons. This year’s oilseed harvest is only just beginning, with 244,000 tons collected so far. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 98% of grain and oilseed crops are currently in good or satisfactory condition. With 35.5% of the grain-growing area harvested so far, the early results point to better wheat quality, but the final size of the crop will depend heavily on the harvest in Kazakhstan’s main grain-producing regions in the north.

2 weeks ago

Education Ban Mo

Kazakhstan to Open First Ban Mo Workshop as China Expands Industrial Training

China is expanding another dimension of its presence in Kazakhstan – training specialists for industry. The country’s first Ban Mo Workshop will open in Almaty, where students will be trained to work with modern manufacturing technologies and equipment. Ban Mo is a Shandong-backed vocational education initiative designed to link technical training with the needs of companies operating overseas. The center will be established at Satbayev University in partnership with Shandong University of Engineering and Vocational Technologies, after an agreement was reached during a visit by a Kazakh delegation to Shandong Province. The workshop aims to give students practical experience with industrial equipment while still at university. Satbayev University explicitly links the program to the needs of companies developing manufacturing operations in Kazakhstan. “It is important to us that future engineers work with modern equipment while they are still studying, participate in technology projects, and gain hands-on experience in production. The Ban Mo Workshop will allow us to train students with the technologies and real-world needs of our industrial partners in mind,” said Sapar Shalabayev, vice rector of Satbayev University, in the university’s announcement of the project. The wider industrial context is particularly visible in the automotive sector. Astana Motors Manufacturing Kazakhstan, a car plant that opened in Almaty’s industrial zone in September 2025, can produce up to 120,000 vehicles a year, with welding, painting, and assembly carried out at the site. The plant makes Chery, Changan, Haval, and Tank vehicles for Chinese manufacturers. Against this backdrop, Chinese education projects address a very practical need: along with production lines and equipment, new factories need local specialists who know how to operate them. Ban Mo is a relatively new Shandong model for taking vocational education overseas. The province launched its overseas Ban Mo College initiative in 2023, with programs based on cooperation between educational institutions and companies with operations abroad. The name combines two figures from ancient China: Lu Ban, the legendary craftsman and inventor associated with building and engineering, and Mozi, a philosopher whose work encompassed logic, optics, mechanics, and military engineering. Together, the two figures represent the combination of practical craftsmanship and technical knowledge that the program seeks to promote. One of the first overseas projects was Ban Mo College in Zambia, established with the participation of Weihai Vocational College, Copperbelt University, and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation. An agreement to establish it was signed in January 2024, and an official launch ceremony was held in July that year. The program combines vocational skills, Chinese-language instruction, and training for industry. Its focus is construction engineering, with students moving between university study and practical training linked to the Chinese company’s operations in Zambia. For Kazakhstan, this model is not emerging in a vacuum. The country already has three Luban Workshops, part of a better-known Chinese vocational education initiative. The first opened in 2023 at East Kazakhstan Technical University, followed by centers at Eurasian National University in Astana and ALT University in Almaty. For Kazakhstan, this model offers a way to train...

3 weeks ago

Sports Funding

Kazakhstan Olympic Delegations Capped After Spending Audit

Kazakhstan has limited the number of sports officials who can be included in official Olympic delegations. The new rules follow an audit of spending on the Tokyo Olympics, where Kazakhstan’s delegation included more support staff than athletes, and auditors found there were no uniform rules for determining how many accompanying personnel were actually necessary. Kazakhstan sent 95 athletes and 101 accompanying personnel to the Tokyo Games. They included 62 coaches, 20 medical staff, nine administrative staff, and other personnel. The Supreme Audit Chamber examined the delegation as part of its audit of spending on preparations for the Games. Auditors found that the country had no uniform rules governing the composition of sports delegations. The number of coaches, doctors, administrative staff and government officials was determined separately for each trip, making it difficult to assess whether travel expenses were justified. The Audit Chamber said the new rules were intended to prevent “extra” accompanying personnel from being included in delegations and reduce the risk of unjustified spending. Following the audit, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports introduced limits for different categories of accompanying personnel. The rules will apply to the Olympic, Paralympic, and Deaflympic Games, and other major international competitions. Officials face the tightest restrictions. At the Summer Olympics, Ministry of Tourism and Sports employees may account for no more than 3% of the number of athletes, while representatives of its Committee for Sports and Physical Culture are limited to 2%. For a team of 100 athletes, that would mean a maximum of three ministry employees and two committee representatives. The limits are substantially higher for personnel who work directly with athletes. At the Summer Olympics, coaches may number up to 86% of the athlete delegation, while doctors, massage therapists, and other medical staff may account for up to 28%. The significance of the new rules is less the precise size of each quota than the fact that Kazakhstan now has a benchmark for judging whether the number of people accompanying athletes – including government officials – is reasonable. Previously, delegation sizes were determined on a case-by-case basis. The new restrictions are part of a broader review of Kazakhstan’s spending on sports. Since the summer of 2025, public funds have been barred from being used to pay foreign athletes playing for Kazakhstani teams. As The Times of Central Asia previously reported, that measure, together with wider limits on professional sports spending, has saved more than $17 million, with the money redirected to youth sports. Ultimately, the audit of Kazakhstan’s Tokyo Olympic spending exposed less a problem with the size of one particular delegation than the absence of clear rules for forming such delegations. The new quotas give auditors a benchmark for the first time: delegations will now have to remain within defined limits.

3 weeks ago

AI in Education

Tokayev Criticizes Delays in Kazakhstan’s School AI Rollout

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has criticized delays in Kazakhstan’s drive to introduce artificial intelligence into schools, saying the government had failed to implement his May decree properly ahead of the new academic year. Speaking at Kazakhstan’s annual August conference for educators, Tokayev said: “Its implementation ahead of the new academic year has not been properly ensured. This is a major shortcoming.” He called for urgent measures to regulate and systematize the use of AI by children and teachers. The May decree set a tight schedule. A comprehensive implementation plan was due by July 1. Pilot schools and their internet connections were to be ready by August 1, along with synchronized regional plans. National standards governing AI use are due by September 1. Tokayev did not specify which targets had been missed. The standards are intended to cover AI-generated educational content, assessment, and academic integrity. The decree also requires stronger protection of students’ personal data and a professional development plan for teachers. It says AI should be used as an additional classroom tool without replacing teachers’ work. Astana sees the program as preparation for employment rather than simply another digital classroom initiative. “Artificial intelligence and its tools are not amusing toys, but a means of earning a living,” Tokayev said. AI material is due to be added to existing digital literacy and computer science courses during the 2026-27 academic year. A separate rural-school pilot is scheduled to begin on September 1 in ten small schools in the Pavlodar and Kyzylorda regions. Officials plan to expand it to 50 schools in November and another 300 in January 2027. The pilot will test personalized learning in fourth-grade mathematics, digital literacy, native-language classes, and AI. The government sees the technology as one way to narrow the longstanding gap in educational opportunities between urban and rural schools. International guidance points to questions the national standards may need to settle. UNESCO recommends a minimum age of 13 for independent use of generative AI, protection of students’ personal data, and teacher training. Kazakhstan’s decree addresses data protection and training but does not specify an age threshold. The government has until September 1 to approve the national standards and its plan for teachers’ professional development.

3 weeks ago

Oil Refining

After CPC Disruptions, Kazakhstan Wants to Refine More Oil at Home

Kazakhstan wants to more than double its oil refining capacity and sell more petrol and diesel to neighboring countries. The case for reducing its reliance on crude exports has gained urgency. Disruptions to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) this year have already forced the country to cut its 2026 oil production forecast by 2 million tonnes. Kazakhstan produced 99.6 million tonnes of oil in 2025 but refined only 18.4 million tonnes. Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said at a briefing on August 25 that refining capacity is planned to increase to 40 million tonnes. “We want to bring this ratio, as in other developed countries that are also producers, to one to two or one to three,” Akkenzhenov said. According to him, Kazakhstan eventually expects to supply neighboring countries with motor fuel and expand its export potential. This does not mean abandoning crude oil exports: even after refining capacity reaches 40 million tonnes, a significant share of production will continue to be exported. Astana is instead seeking to shift the balance toward finished products. The oil refining industry development concept runs through 2040. According to the Energy Ministry, Kazakhstan’s refineries processed 18.4 million tonnes of oil in 2025 and produced 15.47 million tonnes of petroleum products. The concept adopted in 2025 envisaged refining rising to 39.2 million tonnes a year by 2040. The government has since accelerated the timetable, targeting 40 million tonnes of annual capacity by 2033. Average refining depth at the country’s three main refineries reached 90% in 2025 and is targeted to rise to 94%. To achieve this, Kazakhstan is preparing to build a fourth major refinery with capacity of up to 10 million tonnes a year. Possible locations include the Mangystau, Atyrau and Turkestan regions, as well as Ulytau, with the authorities expecting to select a site by the end of the year. The new plant could begin operating by 2033, with the Energy Ministry expecting its launch to fully cover domestic demand for jet fuel and allow Kazakhstan to expand exports of K5-standard petroleum products, broadly equivalent to Europe’s Euro 5 standard. Problems with the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Kazakhstan’s main route for getting oil to the global market, have strengthened the case for diversifying the way Kazakhstan uses and exports its oil. The pipeline runs through Russia to a Black Sea terminal near Novorossiysk, meaning disruptions there can quickly affect production in Kazakhstan. On August 25, Akkenzhenov said the country’s oil production forecast for 2026 had been cut from 98 million to 96 million tonnes. He estimated production losses resulting from attacks on CPC infrastructure at around 3.5 million tonnes. The authorities are trying to compensate for part of the lost volumes by rescheduling major maintenance at large oil fields. Astana is also looking for additional routes to global markets. Akkenzhenov identified Baku-Supsa, the pipeline running from Azerbaijan to Georgia’s Black Sea coast, as one option, saying it could carry around 5 million tonnes a year. The route has seen only limited use since 2022, although...

3 weeks ago

Dastan Satpayev

Dastan Satpayev Burnley Debut Marks First Step in English Football

One of Central Asia’s most promising young footballers, Dastan Satpayev, made his competitive debut in English football on August 23. The 18-year-old Kazakhstan international came off the bench for Burnley in an away match against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Satpayev came on in the 58th minute with Burnley trailing 2-1, but was unable to prevent his side falling to a 3-1 defeat. Why Satpayev Ended Up in the Championship For a region whose footballers have rarely moved directly into leading Western European leagues, Satpayev’s career is being closely watched. In July, the forward joined Chelsea for preseason and scored in one of the club’s friendly matches. Chelsea formally completed his transfer on August 14, signing him to a contract running until 2033. He then joined Burnley on loan for the 2026/27 season. Loans are routinely used by major English clubs to give young players first-team experience elsewhere while they remain under contract with their parent club. Satpayev has said the move will give him a chance to adapt to English football. The Championship is far from a youth or reserve league. Sometimes dubbed "the toughest league in Europe", its marathon 46-game season features 24 clubs, many of whom, including Burnley, have appeared in the Premier League. “I Just Need to Keep Working Hard” Ahead of his debut, Burnley’s official website published Satpayev’s first interview since joining the Lancashire club. “I think this loan is a good step for me. I can adapt here and see what it is like to play in England. Playing in the Championship will help me get used to English football,” the forward said. Satpayev also noted that the intensity of the English schedule, with its 46 league games, plus domestic cup fixtures, will help his development. “I just need to keep working hard, keep moving forward and keep working. It’s also good that there are so many games in the Championship and Premier League: for a footballer, it’s great when you have a match every three or four days. It helps you stay sharp all the time,” he said. His First Half-Hour On August 23, head coach Nicky Hayen selected him for the away match against West Bromwich Albion. The Kazakh forward came on with Burnley trailing 2-1, replacing Armando Broja in the 58th minute. The visitors were unable to turn the game around. West Brom scored a third goal from the penalty spot and won 3-1. After the match, Hayen did not single out the Kazakh player’s debut for assessment. Instead, the head coach expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the team as a whole, particularly after halftime. “The defeat was fully deserved. They had much more energy, and you could see that in the duels and the second balls. We played too slowly and were a long way from the level of last week,” Hayen said. Early reactions to Satpayev were broadly positive. British football blogger Josh Pearson, who regularly covers the Championship, suggested after...

4 weeks ago

e-Commerce

Kazakhstan E-Commerce Grows as Shoppers Spend over $8 Billion in 2025

Kazakh consumers spent 3.77 trillion tenge (about $8.2 billion) on online purchases in 2025, roughly 50% more than two years earlier. E-commerce now accounts for 14.3% of the country’s retail market, with most sales taking place through marketplaces such as Kaspi.kz, Wildberries, and Ozon. A marketplace is a digital platform that brings together products from multiple sellers rather than operating as a single retailer’s online store. In 2025, they accounted for 86% of online retail sales, up from 84.9% a year earlier, according to Kazakhstan’s Bureau of National Statistics. The share of sales through retailers’ own websites fell from 15.1% to 14%, although their turnover still rose in absolute terms. The online shopping basket is changing as well. Phones and gadgets remain the largest category, accounting for 17.1%. Clothing, footwear, and sporting goods make up 12.4%, household goods 12.1%, home appliances 10.3%, and food 7.4%. Growth in the grocery segment is changing delivery requirements. Five dark-store projects – facilities used to process online orders – were built in Almaty, Astana, Karaganda, and Aktobe last year. Marketplaces also installed 2,300 new parcel lockers. The rapid growth of the market has been supported by the widespread use of cashless payments, banking apps, and retail fintech. Domestic platforms are developing alongside major foreign players, intensifying competition for Kazakh consumers. But the presence of large cross-border platforms also creates additional logistical risks. In July, Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries logistics facilities in Russia affected Kazakh sellers that relied on the company’s Russian infrastructure. Following the attacks, Wildberries began searching for additional warehouse capacity in Kazakhstan, where the company is already developing logistics complexes in Almaty and Astana. Expanding domestic warehousing and infrastructure can shorten delivery times and reduce the dependence of some trade flows on logistics centers abroad. New Kazakh players are also emerging. In Karaganda, for example, the Teez marketplace is developing its own warehouse infrastructure and nationwide delivery network. The market’s growth has also brought problems for sellers, with Kazakh entrepreneurs citing difficulties with international payments and double taxation among the main barriers to growth. For small businesses, marketplaces provide access to a large customer base, but they also make sales dependent on the platform’s commissions and logistics. The rules for foreign players are changing as well. Since January 1, 2026, foreign marketplaces serving Kazakh consumers have been required to comply with new tax laws. The VAT rate for foreign platforms has risen from 12% to 16%. The legislation also allows Kazakhstan to suspend access to platforms that ignore registration notices. The government is anticipating further e-commerce growth. The Ministry of Trade’s official target is to increase its share of retail turnover to 18.5% by 2029. In 2024, the market was worth about 3.2 trillion tenge and accounted for 14.1% of retail trade, the Ministry of Trade and Integration said its volume had increased roughly fivefold since 2020. E-commerce is now expanding from a much larger base. Marketplaces already account for the overwhelming majority of online sales, so the next stage of market development will depend not...

4 weeks ago

Electricity supply

Kazakhstan Targets End to Electricity Deficit by 2027

Just days after a major disruption hit power systems across Central Asia, Kazakhstan reaffirmed its plan to fully cover domestic electricity demand by the first quarter of 2027. By the end of next year, the Energy Ministry expects the country to have a surplus of about 1.3 billion kWh. That margin would still leave relatively little room for error because it is equivalent to only about 1% of the electricity Kazakhstan consumed in 2025, when demand grew by 3.8%. The August 14 outage affected parts of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. Power was cut to some consumers in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, which has a population of about 2.4 million. The precise chain of events remains unclear. Kazakhstan’s national grid operator KEGOC said the disruption began when two hydrogenerators at Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul Hydropower Plant shut down, sharply changing power flows and overloading Kazakhstan’s North-East-South transmission corridor. Kyrgyzstan’s Energy Ministry later acknowledged that the Toktogul shutdown was the initial disturbance but said it should not automatically be treated as the direct cause of the subsequent outages elsewhere in Central Asia. A special commission is investigating the incident, although public statements so far have not identified its chair. The outage exposed a risk in regional grid connections. Kazakhstan’s grid is connected to Russia and neighboring Central Asian systems. These links allow electricity to move across borders, but a sudden loss of generation or a major transmission failure can also affect several countries in quick succession. Kazakhstan has been a net electricity importer for several years. In 2025, the country generated 123.1 billion kWh and consumed 124.6 billion kWh. Electricity imports from Russia totaled 4.64 billion kWh, compared with exports of 2.16 billion kWh in the opposite direction. The net inflow from Russia fell from 3.41 billion kWh in 2024 to 2.48 billion kWh in 2025. Electricity consumption increased by 3.8% in 2025, while peak demand reached a record 17.724 GW on December 18. Kazakhstan is also seeking to attract energy-intensive industries and large data centers. Those expectations are reflected in longer-term development plans, which already include 7.8 GW of new and modernized coal-fired generation by 2030, with investment estimated at more than $15.5 billion. The authorities expect to close the remaining short-term deficit by rapidly commissioning new generating capacity. Around 2.6 GW is scheduled to come online in 2026. Four gas-fired power plants and expansion projects at two existing power stations account for part of that capacity, while ten new renewable energy facilities are also planned. The Energy Ministry says these projects should allow Kazakhstan to fully meet its electricity needs by the end of the first quarter of 2027. A further 845 MW is planned for 2027, of which 570 MW would come from renewable projects. By the end of that year, the ministry expects an electricity surplus of around 1.3 billion kWh. Renewable energy is expanding alongside Kazakhstan’s continued reliance on conventional generation. Thermal power plants accounted for 74.4% of electricity generation in 2025. Solar and wind facilities, along with biogas plants, provided 6.1%. The...

4 weeks ago

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