The coronavirus infection that broke out in 2020 contributed to global de-globalization, a decrease in industrial activity, as well as the development of a "coronavirus crisis" that shocked the economies of several countries and became a real threat to financial markets. The difficult epidemiological situation has formed in the consciousness of the world community understanding that humanity can no longer return to the pre-Covid-19 state, it is necessary to live according to new principles. For example, society calls for a reconsideration of its attitude to the environment, the climate situation, and sustainable development issues. The redistribution of resources towards ecology and human capital development is a global trend. For that very reason experts note that today all kinds of promotion of renewable energy sources can become a powerful engine for restoring a sustainable economy, creating new, safe jobs and investing in the future prosperity of mankind.
Thanks to the development of modern technologies that can significantly reduce the cost of renewable energy sources, such a prospect seems more realistic. So, according to official data, for the period from 2010 to 2017, the cost of generating solar energy decreased by 73%, wind energy - by 23%. Moreover, according to forecasts by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the average cost of wind and solar energy by 2025 will decrease by another 40%. If governments take advantage of falling prices for renewable energy sources and put clean energy at the core of their anti-crisis plans, the world community will take a big step towards healthy nature - the best insurance policy against global pandemics.
In Kazakhstan, interest in renewable energy sources has increased in recent years largely due to the efforts of the government and support from the state. Currently, there are 116 RES facilities in the republic with an installed capacity of 1,685 MW. The generation of green energy at the end of 2020 amounted to 3.24 billion kWh. In general, for the first quarter of 2020, renewable energy sources generated 596.2 million kWh, which is 88% more than in the same period in 2019. For example, one of the latest "green" projects put into operation is the launch of a new solar power plant (SPP) with a capacity of 50 MW "Kaskelen 50 MW" in the Zhetygen rural district of the Ili district of the Almaty region. To date, the construction has been fully completed, the solar power plant was put into operation in 2020 and allows to reduce the electric deficit, to save fossil fuel, as well as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing the available solar potential in the region. According to the planned indicators, the capacity of SPP "Kaskelen 50 MW" will amount to 66,884 thousand kWh of electricity per year, excluding degradation.
“We have chosen the southern region of the republic as the location for the project in view of the comparatively better solar resources. According to our analysis, the duration of solar radiation in the Almaty region in summer is about 14 hours - from 7 hours to 21 hours, and in winter about 9 hours - from 9 hours to 18 hours. Experienced foreign partners, highly qualified engineering and technical personnel took part in the construction. Moreover, the suppliers of equipment for the Kaskelen 50 MW station are among the top 10 largest, leading world manufacturers of renewable energy equipment, which together provides us with a significant competitive advantage," said Almas Karabekov, a representative of Mistral Energy LLP.
Electricity at the station "Kaskelen 50 MW" is produced by the photovoltaic method of converting solar energy into electricity using polycrystalline silicon solar panels with a total capacity of 50 MW on the DC side. On the SPP site, with an area of 140 hectares, there are about 140 thousand such panels.
The total cost of the project amounted to 13.37 billion tenge, 80% of which were provided by the state development institution Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC (DBK, a subsidiary of the Baiterek Holding) in the form of a loan, the remaining 20% - the own funds of the project implementer Mistral Energy LLP.
“Realizing the importance of the development of renewable energy sources, today DBK significantly increases the share of lending to renewable energy projects and pays close attention to them. SPP "Kaskelen 50 MW has become the sixth "green" project for the Bank, and we believe that its launch contributes to the involvement of renewable energy sources in the overall energy balance of the country, active transition to a "green economy", as well as minimization of the negative impact on the environment", emphasized Bauyrzhan Amanbekov, acting senior banker of the Clients relations directorate of DBK.
At the moment, in addition to the Kaskelen 50 MW SPP, Development Bank's projects include 2 solar power plants: Nurgisa SPP with a capacity of 100 MW near the city of Kapshagai, as well as the Zhylga photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 20 MW in the Turkestan region.
