bnews.kz - EDB finances first large wind power plant's construction in Kazakhstan

The first wind power plant in the town of Yereimentau in Kazakhstan’s Akmola Region with a capacity of 45 MW will be constructed, the press service of the bank reports.

Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) signed today an agreement with Kazakhstan’s First Wind Power Station LLP (Samruk Energy group of companies) on the provision of a ten-year loan facility for a total of KZT 14.2 billion (about US $94 million). The project will construct the first wind power plant in the town of Yereimentau in Kazakhstan’s Akmola Region with a capacity of 45 MW.

The plant is expected to generate 172.2 GWh of electricity a year. This will help decrease the forecasted deficit of electric power in the region. In addition, the project is expressly innovative.

«This is the first industrial project in Kazakhstan in the sphere of wind energy. It will promote the development of alternate energy in Kazakhstan based on the use of renewable sources. This project is particularly relevant in the context of the forthcoming EXPO 2017 exhibition, whose theme will be Future Energy. In December 2012 the project was included in the Regional Industrialisation Map,» Kanat Dosmukametov, Deputy Chairman of the EDB Management Board said.

According to Mr Dosmukametov, the utilisation of renewable energy sources will help optimise the structure of generating capacities and, in particular, reduce the share of conventional sources of energy. This will save fuel and energy resources and mitigate the adverse impacts of the power sector on the environment by reducing greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions to the atmosphere.