Tag Archives: coal

Kazakhstan completes deal to buy power station from Russia

DEC. 12 2019 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s national wealth fund, Samruk Kazyna, completed a $25m deal to buy a 50% stake in the Ekibastuz power station-2, the largest power plant in the north of the country, that it didn’t already own from Russia’s Inter RAO. The coal-fired power station reportedly produces around 12% of Kazakhstan’s total power.
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— This story was first published in issue 432 of the weekly Bulletin on Dec. 27 2019

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Russia is blocking coal exports to Ukraine, says Kazakhstan

NOV. 11 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan is losing $11m every month because of Russia’s ban on coal being sent to Ukraine across its territory, the Kazakh ministry of trade said. The Kazakh ministry said that it had approved a plan in July to send 103,500 tonnes of coal to Ukraine but that this had been downgraded by the Russian authorities to 60,200 tonnes. It said that subsequent coal supplies had also been reduced by the Russian authorities.

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— This story was first published in issue 428 of the weekly Bulletin.

Explosion kills three Kazakh coal miners

ALMATY, AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — — A methane gas leak triggered an explosion at a mine in central Kazakhstan, killing three coal miners in the worst Kazakh mining accident since 2008 when 30 people died in a blast.

The Kazakhstanstkaya mine is located near the city of Karaganda and is reportedly owned by the steel works at nearby Timirtau. The steel factory is owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal.

The reputation of ArcelorMittal’s factory has fallen over the last few years as it cut jobs. This was partly linked to a global economic downturn and partly a result of international sanctions on Iran, a core client.

The factory now employs around 12,000 workers, down from 15,000 only a few years ago. It had also tried to cut staff salaries, although this effort was rebuked.

Kazakhstan has a patchy record for coal mining safety. As well as the 2008 accident, a monorail accident last year also killed three miners at another coal mine owned by ArcelorMittal. In 2006, 41 miners in Kazakhstan died in a methane blast.

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(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Uzbek President urges modernisation of power station

SEPT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a visit to the Karakalpakstan region in west Uzbekistan, acting President and PM Shavkat Mirziyoyev urged the local administration to speed up the modernisation of the region’s biggest thermal power station, Takhiatash. The upgrade scheme is being part funded by a $300m loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will boost overall production to 930MW from the current 730MW.

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(News report from Issue No. 299, published on Oct. 7 2016)

Samsung cancels Kazakh power plant deal

ALMATY, SEPT. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — South Korea’s Samsung pulled out of a $2.5b deal with Kazakhstan to build a coal-fired power plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash in the south of the country because of the low oil prices.

A collapse in oil prices since 2014 has hit Kazakhstan’s finances hard, forcing the government to cancel projects. Although there has been no response from the Kazakh government, the inference from Samsung’s statement is that it was worried that Kazakhstan would not be able to buy as much electricity as they had agreed.

“Samsung C&T exercised the put option regarding all of its Balkhash thermal power plant shares, 50% plus one share,” the company said in a statement. “[This] is a demand for Samruk Energy to acquire all the shares within 60 days from the date of notice for $192.5m.”

Samsung stopped construction work on the power plant 12 months ago after a disagreement with the Kazakh government over the agreed price it would pay for buying electricity from the plant, the first indicator that the deal may be running into serious trouble.

For Kazakhstan, Samsung’s decision to cancel the contract is a blow for two reasons — it is damaging for Kazakhstan’s reputation as a place to do business and also places further pressure on its current Soviet-era energy production system. Demand for electricity has been booming because of rising population and living standards. The Balkhash power plant had been considered essential for maintaining Kazakhstan’s power production.

In January, another South Korean company, LG Chem, dropped its plans to build a $4.2b petrochemical complex in Kazakhstan due to sustained low oil prices.

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(News report from Issue No. 294, published on Sept. 2 2016)

Kazakh coal production shrinks

APRIL 5 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Coal production in Kazakhstan could shrink by as much as 20% by 2040, Bolat Akchulakov, president of Kazenergy, an industry lobby group, said. Kazakhstan relies on coal for 66% of its energy consumption. A number of coal fired power plants are currently being phased out both in Kazakhstan and in Russia, the main destination of Kazakhstan’s coal exports.

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(News report from Issue No. 275, published on April 8 2016)

 

EBRD funds power plant in Kazakhstan

JAN. 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD sent a $5.9m loan to Sagat Energy for the completion of a combined gas and heat electric power plant in Atyrau, western Kazakhstan. The plant will have a capacity of 11 MW.

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(News report from Issue No. 266, published on Feb. 5 2016)

 

Tajikistan ups coal output

OCT. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Tajikistan has increased coal output by 22% in the first nine months of 2015, compared to the same period last year. Coal production stands at 858,000 tonnes. Coal burning power stations are important for electricity generation and household heating.

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(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

 

Uzbekistan raises coal imports

OCT. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek government has ordered more coal imports to match growing demand, media said. According to the website fergananews.com Uzbekistan will import around 330,000 tonnes of coal this winter. Regionally, Uzbekistan is a major gas producer, but it prefers to export most of the gas to earn foreign currency.

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(News report from Issue No. 254, published on Oct. 30 2015)

 

Kyrgyzstan boosts coal production

DEC. 27 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — With gas supplies limited this winter, Kyrgyzstan has been reverting back to coal to keep its electricity and heating on, media reported. Media reported that state-owned coalminers produced 1.5m tonnes of coal in the first 11 months of last year, up by 22% from a year earlier.

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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)