A review of current energy systems and green energy potential in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Kazakhstan is rich in natural resources including coal, oil, natural gas and uranium and has significant renewable potential from wind, solar, hydro-power and biomass. In spite of this, the country is currently dependent upon fossil fuels for power generation. Coal-fired plants account for 75% of total power generation leading to concerns over greenhouse gas emissions and impacts on human health and the environment. Recent economic growth in Kazakhstan has driven increased demand for energy services, making the construction of additional generating capacity necessary for enabling sustained economic growth. In this context, renewable energy resources are becoming an increasingly attractive option to help bridge the demand-supply gap and to decrease national greenhouse gas emissions. This study presents an overview of the existing energy system in Kazakhstan and investigates policy drivers for the energy sector. We review existing studies, national reports, energy strategies and plans, to identify and describe key barriers that prevent diffusion of renewable energy technologies in Kazakhstan. We propose potential measures to overcome specific barriers in order to successfully develop a renewable energy sector in Kazakhstan. It is seen that the likely major contributors to replacing fossil fuel based energy services are likely to be wind power and solar energy technologies, with biomass and hydro energy sources likely to play a lesser role. The barriers to development include low electricity tariffs, transmission losses and inefficient technologies, weak regulatory and legal frameworks and a high-risk business environment.

Socio-Cultural Impact of Energy Saving: Studying the Behaviour of Elementary School Students in Greece

“…Renewable energy sources constitute the most attractive choice for satisfying energy demands. They can also be used without the fear of depletion [3].…”

“…Through the activities of an appropriate educational curriculum the students can revise his personal values, understand the good called energy and learn to use it rationally [3,11]. The aim of this paper is to investigate the behaviour of elementary school students with regard to energy management.…”

Multi-criteria evaluation of renewable and nuclear resources for electricity generation in Kazakhstan

“…Table 1 summarizes the regions with major rivers. Total large hydro power potential is 170TWh/year [19] of which only 13-15% is effectively utilized [20]. At present the country has large hydro (defined as > 50MW) installed capacity of around 2.2GW while medium (10-50MW) and small hydro ( <10MW) installed capacity is around 78MW [16]. There is around another 2707MW capacity of small hydropower at various stages of project completion [15].…”

“…Spanning from the central to the western catchments of the Caspian and Aral Seas are desert and semi-desert areas while the Tien Shan and Pamir ranges lie in the south. The total agricultural land is around 76.5 million hectares of which 61% is permanent pastures and 32% arable land [16]. A total of 12-14 Mt of biomass waste can obtained from agriculture and steppe grassland [15] thus giving a total potential of around 35 TWh per year [21].…”

“…These two issues provide a major impetus for Kazakhstan to diversify its fuel-mix for electricity production. The Kazak government targets renewable power capacity will increase to 1040MW by 2020 in the country [16]. Diversifying the fuel-mix for electricity production is vital for sustainable development [17], and its planning a complex task [18], requiring a thorough process to evaluate various resources for electricity generation.…”