Photo taken on Sept. 13, 2022 shows the entrance to the 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm near the city of Zhanatas in the Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. (Photo by Dmitry Vasilenko/Xinhua)
The 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm is one of the first batch of key energy projects under the China-Kazakhstan production capacity cooperation framework.
ASTANA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- For many residents of Zhanatas, a small town in southern Kazakhstan, May 2, 2019, was a day to remember.
That was the day when the first turbine of the town's 100-MW wind power project arrived.
Maksat Abilgaziev, a resident of the town, said he was impressed by the turbine, as its 60-meter-long blade covers an area as big as the London Eye observation wheel, adding that the wind blows in his hometown most of the year.
Zhanatas was once a center of phosphate rock mining and fertilizer production, but it witnessed big job losses following the decline of the industries.
Abilgaziev had been an electrical engineer at a local phosphate mine company. He believed the future of his homeland and Kazakhstan lies in clean energy, especially wind energy. So in 2020, the 30-year-old man decided to step out of his comfort zone and embrace "the future."
He then became a trainee responsible for maintaining and repairing wind turbines at the Zhanatas wind farm and learned related maintenance work from Chinese experts.
As an electrical engineer, he said he grasps two key points: One, Kazakhstan has very few wind power professionals and two, if wind energy in his hometown is fully utilized, it will greatly change the local and even the national electricity landscape.
China and Kazakhstan are pioneers in production capacity and investment cooperation, under the framework of the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Kazakhstan's "Bright Road" new economic policy. The cooperation list includes 52 projects worth a total of more than 21.2 billion U.S. dollars.
Photo taken on Sept. 13, 2022 shows some wind turbines at the 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm near the city of Zhanatas in the Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. The wind farm, with 40 wind turbines and a combined capacity of 100 megawatts, is jointly-held by China Power International Holding and Visor Kazakhstan. (Photo by Dmitry Vasilenko/Xinhua)
The 100-MW Zhanatas wind farm is one of the first batch of key energy projects under the China-Kazakhstan production capacity cooperation framework.
The project was put into operation in June 2021, becoming Central Asia's largest wind farm at that time, greatly alleviating the power shortage in southern Kazakhstan.
This year is the third year for Abilgaziev to work at the wind farm. Diligence and studiousness has made the Kazakh man a senior maintenance engineer.
"I have a stable job and my life has become better," he said.
The wind farm has generated 750 million kWh of electricity by the end of 2022, said Abilgaziev. Compared with coal-fired power plants with the same capacity, it is equivalent to saving 255,000 tons of standard coal and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 673,000 tons.
Chinese friends have brought equipment and investment to Kazakhstan, he said, adding that they have also trained local talents in clean energy who were hard to find in Kazakhstan 10 years ago.
The wind power project has created jobs and increased tax revenue for his hometown, bringing new opportunities for urban development, said Abilgaziev.
The Chinese side also pays attention to public welfare, he said, adding that they have donated emergency vehicles to local hospitals, helped the disabled improve their living conditions, and contributed to the renovation of parks, among other contributions.
Talking about the prospect of green energy cooperation between China and Central Asia, Abilgaziev said he was confident that the sky will be bluer, the water cleaner and that human beings will live on a more beautiful Earth in the future. ■
