On May 6, 2026, the first wind power plant in West Kazakhstan Oblast officially broke ground on the grasslands outside Uralsk. The installed capacity is 50MW, with a total investment of 21 billion tenge. It is constructed by Chinese enterprise Green Energy Industry Central Asia Co., Ltd. and is planned to be fully operational by 2027.

The first gust of wind on the grassland

Site selection has its own reasons. The average annual wind speed at the project site is 7.7 meters per second, while the national average in Kazakhstan is only about 4.5 meters per second, and the power generation conditions far exceed the general level. The power station will install six large units of 8.35MW each, with wind turbine diameters of up to 100 meters. The estimated annual power generation is about 150 million kilowatt hours, which can cover nearly 30% of the electricity demand in Uralsk city. This city, which has long relied on imported electricity from Russia, finally has localized clean power support. During the construction period, it can accommodate about 50 temporary workers and leave 5 long-term operation and maintenance positions after being put into operation.

At present, the installed capacity of renewable energy in Kazakhstan has exceeded 4GW, with wind power accounting for about 12%, but the West Kazakhstan region has been blank before. The landing of this wind farm not only fills a gap in installed capacity, but also marks the starting point of regional energy transformation.

From wind to light, one step towards multi energy complementarity

More noteworthy is that a 30MW solar power station and a 5MW photovoltaic gas hybrid power station are also planned around the wind farm, forming a multi energy complementary power cluster with three types of clean power sources. By the end of 2024, China's cumulative installed capacity of wind power has exceeded 440GW, accounting for nearly 40% of the global total. Technology and capital are continuously exported to the hinterland of Central Asia along the Belt and Road. Keywords: new energy, wind power projects

From zero to one, Uralsk is transitioning from a western border town where electricity is controlled by humans to a new stage of green self-sufficiency.Editor/Cheng Liting