ALMATY, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan plans to bring 13.3 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation capacity online by the end of 2029, including 7.4 GW from conventional sources and 5.9 GW from renewable energy sources, Deputy Energy Minister Bakytzhan Ilyas said Thursday.
The planned capacity additions are expected to meet the country's entire electricity demand, including that from planned energy-intensive artificial intelligence infrastructure and large data centers, while creating a 20 percent surplus in generating capacity, according to a statement released by the Kazakh Energy Ministry.
Conventional sources currently account for the bulk of Kazakhstan's installed power generation capacity, including 13.7 GW from coal-fired power plants, 7.1 GW from gas-fired power plants and 2.5 GW from large hydropower plants. Renewable energy facilities account for 3.8 GW, the ministry said.
Renewable energy sources accounted for 8.5 percent of Kazakhstan's total electricity generation in the first nine months of 2026, exceeding the target of 7 percent. The country expects to commission at least 8.4 GW of additional renewable energy capacity by the end of 2035, including around 1.8 GW of solar power capacity, the ministry added.
In his annual state-of-the-nation address on Wednesday, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev identified achieving a sustained electricity surplus by 2029 as a strategic priority. Kazakhstan currently generates 123 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. ■
