The Government of Kazakhstan has approved an investment agreement for the construction of a 700 MW condensing power plant in Kurchatov, Abai region. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The corresponding resolution was signed by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.
The project is being implemented by GRES Kurchatov LLP together with the Ministry of Energy.
"The cost of the new station is 881 billion tenge. The commissioning of two power units with a capacity of 350 MW each is planned to be carried out in stages until 2032. After commissioning, the power plant will be able to generate up to 5 billion kWh of electricity per year. The creation of about 4.4 thousand jobs is envisaged," the government statement said.
The new power plant is expected to become the main source of additional electricity for Kurchatov. The city is home to the National Nuclear Center, the Nuclear Technology Park, research reactors, laboratories, and the Kazakhstani thermonuclear tokamak KTM.
The station is planned to use modern steam-power equipment and "clean coal" technologies. Gas cleaning, filtration, and dust suppression systems are provided to reduce emissions.
The project is expected to increase the reliability of electricity supply to Kurchatov and create additional capacity for the development of scientific, industrial, and urban infrastructure.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the city of Kurchatov in the Abai region was considered as a possible site for the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant (NPP), but later the Ministry of Energy decided to build a coal-fired thermal power plant with a capacity of 700 MW there.