“We still do not know one thousandth of one percent of what nature has revealed to us.”

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

These days, around the world the electric power is one of the most valuable resources used in many needs of mankind. So, it is necessary to understand that the electrical power balance around the world has extremely precarious position. Within evolution of mankind, consumption of the electric power increases, and major factors of its production don't cope with such tension … In this article there are the main studied energy resources, which have the status of "inexhaustible". Also, methods of use of these energy resources in our domestic needs, and methods of implementation of the new projects connected with it. The author considers some evolutionary methods, programs and projects having potential in development of use of the processed energy resources. 

Renewable energy is energy produced from natural resources which are replenished such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermal and hydro power. Governments and companies around the world are investing heavily in developing technologies to harness the power of clean renewable energy sources because of their potential to produce large capacities of energy without generating greenhouse gases which can contribute to climate change.

Renewables have experienced a significant progression over the last period, both in developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, they are far from reaching their full potential and still account for a minor part of the world’s energy industry.

Raising the conversion to a low carbon society involves a substantial volume of investments in sustainable energy technologies (Meyer et al., 2009; OECD, 2008; Stern et al., 2006; UNFCCC, 2007). Nevertheless, mobilizing private capital in this field is particularly challenging in the current economic context, as investors seem to display a certain risk aversion. As pointed out by Saponar (2010), analysts perceive an underweight in the sector as a result of disappointment and structural concerns.

Kazakhstan has a lot of potential for the use of alternative or renewable energy sources, which in the long term should replace natural resources, as well as reduce costs for energy supply and transportation, and lead to overall improvement of environment. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan strained that the country’s transition to a «green» way of development is the strategic objective and proclaimed within the principles of «Kazakhstan Strategy - 2050: a new policy of the State».

One of the priority guidelines of development of «green economy» is the development of renewable energy sources. According to the Concept, the country shall target to achieve a 3% share of renewable energy in total electricity by 2020, which is an ambitious task taking into consideration that the current share of renewable energy use in Kazakhstan is less than 1% of the energy balance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Therefore, in order to implement the ambitious plans, a number of regulations are being adopted to regulate the energy supply market when using renewable energy sources. Many of the existing legal acts contain significant deficiencies of legal, technical and conceptual nature, and do not take into account accumulated successful experience of foreign countries.

Though, some positive legislative changes should be distinguished, as the abolition of licensing requirements for production, transmission and circulation of electric and thermal energy, operation of power stations, electricity grids and substations, as well as the use of renewable energy. This research work will draw the attention of the state investment in the field of regulation of renewable energy in the Republic in Kazakhstan.

Current trends and prospects of the development of renewable energy sources in Kazakhstan

The last years were extraordinary ones for renewable energy, with the largest global capacity additions seen to date, although challenges remain, particularly beyond the power sector. The year saw several developments that all have a bearing on renewable energy, including a dramatic decline in global fossil fuel prices; a series of announcements regarding the lowest-ever prices for renewable power long-term contracts; a significant increase in attention to energy storage; and a historic climate agreement in Paris that brought together the global community.

Renewables are now recognized around the world as mainstream sources of energy. Rapid growth, particularly in the power sector, is driven by numerous factors, including the improving cost-competiveness of renewable technologies, devoted policy initiatives, better admittance to financing, energy security and environmental concerns, growing demand for energy in developing and emerging economies, and the essential for admission to contemporary energy. Consequently, new markets for both centralized and dispersed renewable energy are evolving in all regions.

One of the most notable features of renewable forms of energy is the diversity of technologies and resources. There is little doubt that the ultimate size of the renewable energy resource is large and could, in principle, make a very substantial contribution to world energy demands - easily exceeding current world electricity supply for example (see Table 2). An overview of the leading resources and the technologies for harnessing them is provided in Table 1. 

Table 1 Global renewable energy resources

Source: UNDP/WEC (2014) 

Table 2 Installed capacities and output of new renewables

Source: UNDP/WEC (2014) and Wind Power Monthly (2013)

Renewables are capable to provide energy in several forms – heat, fuels, electricity – and at a range of scales. In electricity generation these varieties from large-scale grid-connected technologies to the provision of small volumes of power for isolated villages or telecommunications. Similarly, the occasions to use renewable fuels ranges from small niche markets to large scale blending with conventional fuels.

The method here is to focus on key technologies and their progress in leading markets rather than endeavoring to assess resources and technologies on a region by-region or application by-application basis. However, it is notable that scenarios of future energy supplies suggest that future energy systems will be characterized by more renewables and much greater diversity – both in terms of regional resource use and scale and type of technology application (Shell, 1995).

Wind power

We have been harnessing the wind's energy for hundreds of years. From old Holland to farms in the United States, windmills have been used for pumping water or grinding grain. Today, the windmill's modern equivalent – a wind turbine – can use the wind's energy to generate electricity.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy by wind turbines into a useful form, such as electricity or mechanical energy. Large-scale wind farms are typically connected to the local power transmission network with small turbines used to provide electricity to isolated areas. Residential units are entering production and are capable of powering large appliances to entire houses depending on the size. Wind farms installed on agricultural land or grazing areas, have one of the lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources.

Wind power has the potential to produce 25 times more energy in a year than Kazakhstan’s current production from hydrocarbons. It is estimated that 10-15% of the land in Kazakhstan has average wind speeds of over 6 m/s making Kazakhstan prime for an increase in wind power. Wind power will play a large part of the 2020 goal to expand the renewable energy generating capacity to 1,040 megawatts from 110 megawatts last year.

One of Kazakhstan’s power companies, Samruk-Energy JSC, was recently awarded a $94 million loan from the Eurasian Development Bank to build Kazakhstan’s largest wind farm. The project will produce 172 million kilowatt/hours of electrical energy per year, save more than 60 million tons of coal, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases [1].

Kazakhstan's steppe geography makes it suitable for wind energy applications and the estimated potential of wind energy that can be economically developed is about 760GW [2]. About 50% of Kazakhstan's territory has average wind speeds suitable for energy generation (4-6 m/s) with the strongest potential in the Caspian Sea, central and northern regions. The most promising individual sites are in the Almaty region in the Djungar Gates, 600 km northeast of Almaty close to the Xinjiang border and the Chylyk Corridor 100 km east of Almaty. Wind potentials of 525Wm2 in the Djungar Gates and 240Wm2 in the Chylyk corridor have been estimated with power production from wind turbines potentially achieving 4400 kW/h/MW and 3200 kW/h/MW respectively [3].

Solar power

Photovoltaic (PV) Solar power is harnessing the suns energy to produce electricity. One of the fastest growing energy sources, new technologies are developing at a rapid pace. Solar cells are becoming more efficient, transportable and even flexible, allowing for easy installation. PV has mainly been used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array. The 1973 oil crisis stimulated a rapid rise in the production of PV during the 1970s and early 1980s. Steadily falling oil prices during the early 1980s, however, led to a reduction in funding for photovoltaic R&D and a discontinuation of the tax credits associated with the Energy Tax Act of 1978. These factors moderated growth to approximately 15% per year from 1984 through 1996. Since the mid-1990s, leadership in the PV sector has shifted from the US to Japan and Germany. Between 1992 and 1994 Japan increased R&D funding, established net metering guidelines, and introduced a subsidy program to encourage the installation of residential PV systems. Solar installations in recent years have also largely begun to expand into residential areas, with governments offering incentive programs to make “green” energy a more economically viable option (Anderson, 1998).

The potential for profound innovation sits alongside continued improvements and scale economies in existing module types. Both will yield cost reductions. This makes the future for PV difficult to read. A direct comparison between engineering assessments and learning curves[4] found that the historical learning curve for PV provides less ambitious cost reduction projection than recent engineering assessments. Learning rates of up to 30% are not untypical in the semi-conductor industries.

The 18-20% historical learning rate of the last 15 years may prove conservative[5] and projecting costs on the basis of historic learning rate and market growth rate may understate the potential of PV. Nevertheless, the Energy Review team found that there would be very significant cost reductions over the period to 2025 if a 20% rate of learning is extended into the future, and if PV installations continue to grow at an average 25% p.a. This is illustrated in Figure 2, which also shows the assumed growth in installed capacity. 

Figure 1 Illustrating the growth in capacity and reduction in costs for solar PV assuming a learning rate of 20% (PIU, 2001) 

Kazakhstan has areas with high insolation that could be suitable for solar power, particularly in the south of the country, receiving between 2200 and 3000h of sunlight per year, which equals 1200-1700 kW/m2 annually [6]. Both concentrated solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) have potential. There is a 2MW solar PV plant near Almaty and six solar PV plants are currently under construction in the Zhambyl province of southern Kazakhstan with a combined capacity of 300MW.

In addition to solar PV, concentrated solar thermal is advantageous given it does not require water for operation so can be used in desert and semi-desert areas, the materials (steel, glass, and concrete) are domestically produced in Kazakhstan and readily available, and solar thermal plants store energy in the form of heat, which is far more efficient than the batteries used in PV systems and allows electricity to be produced on demand, even after the sun has set, enabling both base and peak loads to be met. There are no current plans to install a concentrated solar thermal plant although the government plans to create 1.04GW of renewable energy capacity by 2020 [7]. The South-Kazakhstan, Kyzylorda oblast and the Aral region are the most suitable locations to build solar power plants.

In particular, according to the Plan of Activities for Alternative and Renewable Energy in Kazakhstan, it is planned to put into operation about 28 solar energy projects until the end of 2020 with total installed capacity of 713.5 MW [8].

The EBRD is expecting to again increase its annual investments in Kazakhstan in 2015, after reaching a record US$ 700 million last year. So far this year, the EBRD has committed US$ 400 million to various projects there, including Burnoye Solar. The total EBRD lending to date in Kazakhstan is over US$ 7 billion (Figure 3).

Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. In this context, biomass refers to plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce for example trash such as dead trees and branches, yard clippings and wood chips biofuel, and it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing.

Kazakhstan has 76.5Mha agricultural land, 10Mha forest and 185Mha steppe grasslands providing abundant biomass wastes and residues which have the potential to generate arrange of bioenergy services [10]. Kazakhstan produces and exports crops such as wheat, rye, maize, barley, oats, millet, buckwheat, rice and pulses, with an average grain yield of 17.5-20 Mt, which equates to roughly 12-14Mt of biomass wastes[11]. Biomass wastes are currently poorly exploited and only ~10% of the total volume of the residues issued, mostly as a feed additive for livestock; the proportion of rural households using biomass cook stoves for cooking and heating is currently unknown. Organic wastes are also a potential source of energy and at least 400,000 households are known to keep cattle, horses and sheep [12].

Various external funding agencies (UNDP, GEF, HIVOS Foundation) have supported the development of biogas initiatives including the Biogas Training Centre at the Eco-museum in Karaganda (2002-2003) and the ‘Azure Flame’ Central Kazakhstan Biogas Education Centre (2004-2005) however despite this promotion there is only one large scale biogas unit currently in operation in the country which is a 360kWe biogas plant run at Vostok village in the Kostanai region. The Vostok biogas unit consists of two 2400m3 digesters operating with a feedstock of 40 t/day of cow, sheep and camel manure, grain residues and 1t/day of slaughterhouse waste. The plant was installed in 2011 by Karaman-K Ltd. and Zorg Biogas with an aim of delivering 3 million kWh of electricity annually[13].

Geothermal energy

It is expensive to build a power station but operating costs are low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites. Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in the Earth's core.

Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy:

1. Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator,
2. Flash plants take hot water, usually at temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allow it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators and then runs the steam through a turbine,
3. In binary plants, the hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid that spins the turbine. The condensed steam and remaining geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more

Kazakhstan possesses a large resource of middle and low temperature thermal water. The geothermal field Kaplanbek (near the city of Chimkent), with thermal water of temperature 80 °C, is used for heat supply of residential buildings. Near the city of Almaty thermal water with temperature 80-120°C is used for heating the green houses in winter and for air conditioning in summer. As of 2007, Kazakhstan is not producing power from their geothermal resources [14].

The evaluation of geothermal resources was carried out in accordance with the testing results for numerous wells drilled for oil and gas exploration and production. The most prospective geothermal reservoirs were found in Cretaceous formations in the South and South west of Kazakhstan. Main thermal water areas include:

• The vicinity of cities Chimkent, Dzhambul, Kyzyl-Orda; a depth is 1200-2100 m, temperature 45- 80°C, TDS 1g/l.
• Chu river valley and North of Kzyl-Kum desert; geothermal gradient 35 °/km, temperature 80-90°C, TDS 5g/l
• High valley of Ily river (Panfilov field); Cretaceous aquifers – depth 2000-3500 m, temperature 90- 115°C, TDS 1.5 g/l, flowrates 20-90 l/s; deeper (4500 m) aquifer has been identified with brine temperature 170°C
• City Almaty neighborhood; depth 2500-3500 m, temperature 80-120°C
• Taldy Kurgan Region; large resources of hot (90°C) water has been
• At Ust-Urt plateau (nearby Caspian Sea coast) large hot water (>120°C) resources are expected from data provided from oil

Total thermal water resources are estimated as 520 MWt (free flow operation) or 4300 MWt (pumping operation). Proven resources for electricity production (Panfilov field) 12 MWe for Cretaceous aquifer, for deeper aquifer further investigation is necessary [15].

Hydroelectric power

Hydropower plants are also a form of renewable energy. They operate using stored water in a dam; the water falls by gravity through penstocks to water turbines located below the dam. There are various types of water turbines used to drive power generators, producing electricity for the National Grid.

Water power has been used for centuries as a means of operating water wheels for various purposes. Hydropower is one such use of water and this has been in existence since the 1890’s. Hydropower is considered as renewable energy, produced from natural resource of water with zero CO2 emissions during operation. It produces electricity by using a stored supply of water from a reservoir, which runs down large bore pipes known as penstocks, into water turbines located below the reservoir. These turbines drive power generators supplying electricity to the national grid.

In Kazakhstan – small hydropower plants are the most rapidly developing areas of use of renewable energy. Thus, in the period from 2007 to 2010 the Almaty region have introduced five small hydropower plants with a total installed capacity of 20 MW [16].

One of the important areas of energy efficiency of Kazakhstan's economy is construction of hydroelectric power plants on small rivers operating without retaining dams. Hydropower accounts for approximately 13% percent of Kazakhstan's total generating capacity delivering around 7.78TWh from 15 large (450 MW) hydropower station with a total capacity of 2.248GW [16].

According to the experts[17], provided the smaller hydropower stations are installed about 8 billion kWh can produced per year and this is more than enough to meet the demand that is now satisfied through imports from Central Asia. In December 2011 the Moynak hydropower plant (300 MW) was put into operation within the realization of the State Program for Rapid Industrial-innovative Development. A number of the projects to build smaller hydropower plants are being implemented in southern Kazakhstan.

Bibliography

1. Samruk-Energy JSC annual report (2015)
2. United Nations Development Program Kazakhstan (May 2016)
3. "Prospective of windpower development in Kazakhstan". UNDP-GEF. (2016)
4. UNDP/WEC (2000)
5. recent review of learning rates (McDonald and Schrattenholzer, 2001) presents evidence that the rate for PV modules is 20% rather than the 18% reported by the IEA (2000).
6. "Renewable energies in Central Asia". Bmz.de. (2016)
7. Cochran, J (2007). "Kazakhstan's potential for wind and concentrated solar power". Almaty, Kazakhstan. "RES in Kazakhstan: More than 1 GW until 2020". KazCham.com. (2016)
8. EBRD report;
9. Pala, C (2009). "Abandoned Soviet farmlands could help offset global warming". Environmental Science Technology. 43 (23): 685–707.
10. "Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)". General summary for the countries of the former Soviet Union (2016).
11. "NRGI Kazakhstan report". Natural Resource Governance (2016).
12. "First biogas plant started energy production in Kazakhstan". (2011).
13. KazEnergy report (2008)
14. Kazakhstan: Country profile, Renewable Energy Initiative, EBRD
15. KEGOC report (2011)
16. "NRGI Kazakhstan report". Natural Resource Governance (2016).
17. KEGOC report (2015)

1. Anderson D., The economics of photovoltaic technologies. London: Imperial College Press; 741– 71. Ch. 17; 1998. Alriksson S. and Öberg T., Conjoint analysis for environmental evaluation – A review of methods and applications.
2. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 15, 244-257. 2008.
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5. Renewable Energy World, Vol. 6; 2003. 

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

BNEF: Bloomberg New Energy Finance

BRICS: Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States

CO2: Carbon dioxide

COP21: Conference of the Parties, 21st meeting CPEE: Comprehensive Program for Energy Efficiency CPS: Country Partnership Strategy

CPV: Concentrating solar photovoltaic CSP: Concentrating solar (thermal) power DC: Direct current

DNI: Direct normal insolation DRE: Distributed renewable energy DSM: Demand-side management EA: Environmental Assessment

EBRD: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EC: European Commission

ECA: Europe and Central Asia EE: Energy Efficiency

EIRR: Economic Internal Rate of Return EMF: Environmental Management Framework EMP: Environmental Management Plan ESCO: Energy Service Company

ESMAP: Energy Sector Management Assistance Program