Kazakhstan plans to bring 13.3 gigawatts (GW) of new power generation capacity online by 2029, Vice Minister of Energy Bakytzhan Ilyas said during a Government's meeting, Qazinform News Agency reports. According to Ilyas, the planned expansion will include 7.4 GW from conventional energy sources and another 5.9 GW from renewables.
Once completed, the projects are expected to give Kazakhstan 20% more power generation capacity than it needs to meet domestic demand. However, several major projects are facing delays, putting some of the country's near-term capacity expansion plans behind schedule.
The modernization of Almaty Combined Heat and Power Plant No. 3, with a capacity of 544 MW, is running behind schedule, while the 926 MW gas-fired power plant in Turkistan is also facing delays, with only 190 MW expected to come online this year. As a result, Kazakhstan is expected to bring just 1.27 GW of new power generation capacity online in 2026, less than half of the originally planned 2.66 GW.
Meanwhile, the country will begin preparing seven-year electricity supply and demand forecasts this year, taking into account the growing energy needs of major investment projects, including data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. If new power plants are commissioned on schedule, electricity generation is projected to reach 134.1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2027, against expected consumption of 132.8 billion kWh, resulting in a surplus of 1.3 billion kWh.
Electricity generation is expected to rise further to 143.4 billion kWh in 2028. Earlier, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Kazakhstan might achieve a sustained electricity surplus by 2029.