Massive renewables and green hydrogen plans have surfaced in Kazakhstan with German project developer Svevind Energy GmbH announcing plans to develop 45 GW worth of wind and solar energy farms, in collaboration with the national investment promotion agency of Kazakhstan, Kazakh Invest National Company JSC.
Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the duo, this renewables power generation capacity will mainly be located in the western and central parts of the country in steppe areas with large tracts of dry grassland, all of which will be used to power 30 GW of electrolyzers to eventually produce about 3 million tons of green hydrogen annually.
In a statement, Svevind said the green hydrogen thus produced will either be exported directly to Eurasian markets, or used locally for the production of green ammonia, steel or aluminium.
Svevind expects this capacity development to take around 3 to 5 years to complete construction and commissioning phases. The German company's CEO Wolfgang Kropp said green hydrogen produced under the plan will 'lift Kazakhstan among the global leaders of renewable energy and hydrogen at very competitive, ultra-low production costs'. The German company had presented the plan to the Kazakh government in May 2021.
Kazakhstan allocated 148 MW renewable energy capacity in December 2020 as part of an auction, awarding 60 MW to solar PV capacity (see Kazakhstan Awards 60 MW Solar Power Capacity).