(Dresden, Nur-Sultan) – The German project developer Svevind Energy GmbH wants to install wind and solar parks with a total output of 45 gigawatts (GW) in the predominantly steppe areas of western and central Kazakhstan. The green electricity will feed electrolyzers with an output of 30 GW, which will produce three million tons of green hydrogen annually. This can then “either be exported directly to the ever-growing Eurasian markets or used locally to produce high-quality green products such as ammonia, steel or aluminum.”
Svevind said he presented his plans to the Kazakh government during government consultations in May in the capital Nur-Sultan. The entire development, engineering, procurement and financing phase is estimated to take three to five years; for construction and commissioning another five years.
To develop the gigawatt systems, Svevind has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-owned Kazakh Invest National Company JSC. Kazakh Invest is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The authority's tasks include promoting investments in the economic sector from the initiative through to the implementation of projects. “Promoting low-carbon development is in line with the strategic direction of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the commitments made within the framework of international agreements,” said Meirzhan Yussupov, Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Invest. “Through this development, Kazakhstan can find its place in the world supply of hydrogen.”
The plants for the production of green hydrogen would put the country “into the global leadership of renewable energies and hydrogen at very competitive, extremely low production costs,” said Wolfgang Kropp, managing director and majority owner of Svevind. Kazakhstan is “the right place for green hydrogen”.
Svevind is a private group of companies in the renewable energy sector based in Weißenbrunn (Germany), Piteå (Northern Sweden), Dresden (Germany) and Almaty (Kazakhstan). The company has been developing and building large-scale onshore wind power projects in Scandinavia since 1998. Svevind has developed “Markbygden 1101”, a cluster of connected wind farms in northern Sweden, west of the city of Piteå. At the beginning of the year, wind turbines with an output of one gigawatt were in operation and another 1,5 gigawatts were under construction. According to the company, the investment volume is around 2,8 billion euros. Once completed, “Markbygden 1101” is expected to cover around eight percent of Sweden’s current electricity needs. Annual production is forecast at around twelve terawatt hours.
Photos
Visualization of large wind and solar parks in Kazakhstan © Svevind Energy GmbH, 2021
