In the context of alternative energy sources, Kazakhstan is referred to as a country of sun, wind and water. However, many projects in that area have not received due attention, and it is unknown when, at last, they are going to be implemented. Kazakhstan has vast wind resources. This is why it is considered one of the most suitable countries for wind energy. According to the expert evaluations, Kazakhstan’s wind energy potential is 1,820 milliard kW a year. In this regard, the most promising areas are located in the central part, in the Caspian region, and in the south, south-east, and south-west parts of the country, said the manager of UNDP, Kazakhstan-Wind Power Market Development Initiative, Gennady Doroshin.
This project includes the development of a national programme for developing wind energy. The Kazakhstan specialists working in this area have already prepared such a programme. “However, for over half a year now, it has been collecting dust in the offices of the Ministry of Energy,” Doroshin told reporters. According to him, the Kazakh government has shown no due interest to this programme. He also mentioned that the high officials had been talking for many years about the necessity to build a pilot 5MW wind power station at Dzungarian Gates, but talking is all that has been done so far.
“In 2004, the government of Kazakhstan was actively promoting the project promising every support to it. There was also an investor ready to invest its money in the Dzungarian Gates wind farm project. UN too, expressed its readiness to provide a USD one million grant for that purpose, but our government categorically refused to provide guarantees for implementation of the wind power,” Doroshin said. The project was closed after that. In 2007, there was a renewed interest to the project, but new difficulties arose, namely problems with acquisition of wind turbines. They are in high demand today.
For example, according to the World Wind Energy Association, 70 countries worldwide are using the power of wind. The leaders include the US, Spain, Germany and China. The wind turbine building companies take orders for several hundred units per shipment. “For the Dzungarian project, we need just five wind turbines. It is a very small order. So we have been scheduled for no sooner than 2010,” Doroshin said. He believes that until the government commits to the development of the alternative sources of energy, the matter will remain at a standstill. And the oil and gas resources have a tendency to deplete…