OCT. 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan has nearly doubled the amount of coal it has mined so far this year, media reported. The increase was needed to meet a surge in demand created by industries switching from gas to coal for power. The boost in demand for coal should also increase employment in Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 204, published on Oct. 15 2014)
OCT. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz government said it wanted to impose price controls on coal ahead of the winter season. Coal prices jump up during the harsh winter months in Kyrgyzstan. Analysts, though, have cast doubt on the Kyrgyz government’s ability to control prices.
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(News report from Issue No. 203, published on Oct. 8 2014)
JAN. 16 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — China and Russia have agreed to lend $400m for the modernisation of the Ekibastuz power plant in Kazakhstan, media reported. The coal-fired power plant in the northern region of Pavlodar is one of the biggest in Kazakhstan, generating an estimated 12% of the country’s energy.
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(News report from Issue No. 168, published on Jan. 22 2014)
JUNE 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan will spend roughly $3.2b a year until 2050 on developing alternative green energy sources and reducing its dependence on coal-fired power stations, energy minister Nurlan Kapparov told media. Coal-fired power stations produce roughly 80% of Kazakhstan’s power.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)
JUNE 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As a statement of intent it was emphatic. Kazakhstan’s environmental protection minister Nurlan Kapparov told a news briefing in Astana on June 5 that the state would invest $3.2b a year until 2050 on developing alternative sources of power to reduce its reliance on coal.
Mr Kapparov said that this was the equivalent of 1% of Kazakhstan’s annual total GDP.
This scale of commitment is genuinely large and will put Kazakhstan in the top league of countries committed to reducing their reliance on coal-fired power stations.
Currently, coal-fired power stations generate about 80% of Kazakhstan’s power needs.
The initiative to push for green alternative power sources is an indicator of a developed economy, just the sort of image that Kazakhstan wants to project. It is also part of Kazakhstan’s wider policies for both power production and for winning EXPO-2017. One of the themes of EXPO-2017 is green energy.
Kazakhstan has already made headway in developing alternative energy. This year it has announced initiatives to boost wind, hydro-electric, solar and nuclear power.
Mr Kapparov said that he wanted to see green energy make up half of Kazakhstan’s total production by 2050.
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(News report from Issue No. 138, published on June 10 2013)