Kazakhstan seeks investment partners to build 1200 MW coal power plant - ministry

ASTANA. June 1 (Interfax) - The Kazakh authorities are negotiating the construction of a 1,200-MW coal-fired power plant with potential investors, said Aidos Daribayev, head of the power industry department in the Ministry of Energy.

"The ministry set a target to build coal-fired plants to cover the deficit of power electricity. There is a project to build a 1,200 MW plant. We are studying several location sites," Daribayev said at the fourth coal industry forum on Thursday.

The official said that the international institutions had already stopped financing coal generation, but there are potential investors who can help build these stations.

"We are talking with China and with investors from India. Direct negotiations are underway. We understand that renewable energy sources are not reliable, but we can rely on the capacities of coal power plants," Daribayev said.

Daribayev said that Kazakhstan's electricity generation totaled 128 billion kWh in 2022, and 70% of it was coal generation.