Kazakhstan ahead of winter: 384 billion tenge for power plants, and those in the “red zone” down from 19 to 5

Kazakhstan’s energy ministry outlined the state of winter preparations to the business outlet LS, according to an article published on 5 November. Under the “Tariff in exchange for investment” programme, about 384 billion tenge has been allocated in the generation sector to keep power plants running reliably during the heating season, 9% more than last year; the government had already announced the sum in July.

Repairs. Major repairs were planned for 9 power units, 55 boilers and 51 turbines in 2026. In a statement on 4 November, the ministry said that 8 units, 49 boilers and 32 turbines had been completed. The ministry also announced that Pavlodar CHP-3, operated by Pavlodarenergo, had finished major repairs on boilers 1, 3 and 5, turbines 3 and 5 and chimney No. 1; the plant is running with five boilers and five turbines.

Wear. Over the past two years, average wear of the main equipment at combined heat and power plants has fallen to 53%, after repairs to 20 units, 118 boilers and 84 turbines, according to the ministry. The number of plants in the “red” risk zone has fallen from 19 to 5; in July, the government listed those in Semey, Uralsk and Taraz, CHP-2 in Aktau and GRES-1 in Temirtau. Technological incidents at power plants fell by 14% last year, to about 1,500.

Heating networks. Before last winter, 323 km of networks were rebuilt or repaired, reducing their wear from 52% to 50%. This year 377 km have been prepared, including 130 km rebuilt under the national project, which is expected to bring average wear down to 48%. In the first nine months, electricity output was 91.7 billion kWh, 2% more than in the same period last year.