Abstract. The article analyzes the integration efforts of Kazakhstan related to global energy security, which is one of the 10 most important issues to be an immediate solution, selected by the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in his "Strategy Kazakhstan 2050". The author concludes that although Kazakhstan contributes to the energy security on a global scale, producing and supplying the necessary energy for the countries of the world community. Kazakhstan will use its oil wealth to fund green energy and, in this regard, is an extremely valuable global energy partner.
Our country faces the challenges and demands of the transition from green dirty coal energy to modern alternative energy, which is based on renewable sources. Listing the ten global challenges of the twenty-first century, Elbasy called the fifth point the issue of global energy security. “All developed countries are increasing investments in alternative and green energy technologies. By 2050, their use will allow generating up to 50 percent of all energy consumed, ”said First President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “Obviously, the era of the hydrocarbon economy is gradually approaching its end. A new era is approaching, in which human life will be based not only and not so much on oil and gas, but on renewable energy sources. Kazakhstan is one of the key elements of global energy security. Our country, which has large reserves of world-class oil and gas, will not step a step back from its policy of reliable strategic partnership and mutually beneficial international cooperation in the energy sector, ”the first President of our country emphasized.
In the Message of the first President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the Leader of the nation, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to the people of Kazakhstan, “Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy: A New Political Course for the Fulfilled State,” the fifth challenge is mentioned - global energy security. According to the first President of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in Kazakhstan there is every opportunity to make maximum use of the energy of the sun and wind, while not forgetting about the traditional sources that nature generously endowed us with. By 2050, their ratio from the level of the total aggregate energy consumption of the country, as well as in the world, should be one to one. “Remaining a major player in the hydrocarbon market, we must develop the production of alternative types of energy, actively introduce technologies that use the energy of the sun and wind. We have all the possibilities for this. By 2050, alternative and renewable forms of energy should account for at least half of total energy consumption in the country, ”Elbasy said in his message to the people of Kazakhstan,“ Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy: a New Political Course for the Successful State ”.
In this vein, he drew attention to the fact that the sixth challenge on a planetary scale is the exhaustion of natural resources. “Given the limited, exhaustible natural resources of the Earth, an unprecedented increase in consumption in the history of mankind will heat up both negative and positive processes in different directions. Our country has several advantages here. Almighty has given us many natural riches. Other countries and peoples will need our resources.
Leader of the Nation Nazarbayev N.A. clearly defined what problems should be reflected in the energy sector. The energy sector provides almost a third of the country's gross domestic product. “It is important to increase the requirements for energy efficiency and energy saving of enterprises, as well as environmental friendliness and efficiency of energy producers themselves. The exhibition “EXPO-2017” held in Astana showed how progress is rapidly moving in the field of alternative, “clean” energy. Today, renewable energy (RES) accounts for a quarter of the world's electricity production. According to forecasts, by 2050 this figure will reach 80%. We set a goal to increase the share of alternative energy in Kazakhstan to 30% by 2030. Today, we already have 55 RES facilities with a total capacity of 336 MW, which in 2020 produced about 1.1 billion kWh of green energy ”[1].
In the modern period, issues of legal support of energy security are given special importance. Of particular importance in modern legal and economic relations is the issue of ensuring energy security for those states that pursue a policy of actively attracting foreign investment. In this case, the Entrepreneurial Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan was one of the mechanisms of legal protection and legal regulation of national and economic interests of the EAEU states. Our global regional and strategic partner of Russia in the field of economy, defense, national security has certain laws governing issues of alternative energy sources and energy security. The Eurasian Economic Union is a real force in the global economic space.
Another major area of cooperation is the electric power industry. By integrating the national electricity markets of the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, it is planned to form a common electricity market, the expected launch date of which is 2024-2025. This will make it possible to fully realize the export potential of the electric power industry in Kazakhstan, which, according to the Plan for the development of the electric power industry by 2030, will exceed 6 billion kilowatt hours, as well as increase the stability of the energy system. This is about 200-300 million US dollars of additional export revenue annually [2].
The formation of a common electricity market implies that members of the Union will be able to purchase electricity both under bilateral contracts and through centralized tenders, for the implementation of which a special electric power stock market will be formed. At the same time, a general analysis of the national energy systems of the EAEU member countries shows a very low demand for electricity imports. Today, only in Belarus there is a certain deficit, which will soon be covered with the launch of two BelNPP units (2400 MW) in 2020 and 2021, which will allow Minsk to act as an exporting country of electricity with a focus, in particular, on the Baltic markets.
In Kazakhstan, the electricity industry is developing dynamically, and in the coming years, NurSultan aims to reach the level of full self-sufficiency. At the same time, by 2050 it is planned to provide up to 50% of electricity generation from renewable sources, which will also allow us to start developing export strategies in the direction of Asian markets.
In Russia, the generating capacity is also excessive and is ten times greater than the rest of the EAEU members combined, which also indicates the export orientation of its energy sector. Russia is one of the largest exporters of electricity, annually supplying up to 18 billion kWh of energy abroad.
There is a surplus of capacities in both Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. And if in the case of Kyrgyzstan, the lion's share of generation is carried out at hydropower, which provides perhaps the lowest cost and tariffs for electricity in the entire EAEU, then in the case of Armenia, the generation structure is based on nuclear power plants (about 40%), TPPs (about 40% ) and hydroelectric power station (about 20%). With such a structure, with an excess of capacities (out of the installed capacity of 3,555 MW, only 2,320 MW is used), in the conditions of negative dynamics of consumption and a huge credit burden in the energy system (about $ 1 billion), it is extremely difficult to ensure low cost of electricity.
Let's make a comparison across the EAEU countries. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, for the population, the tariff is set at $ 0.01 per 1 kWh, while in Armenia the cost of 1 kWh of electricity ranges from $ 0.07 - $ 0.09, in Belarus - $ 0.06 - $ 0, 1, in Kazakhstan - $ 0.06 - 0.08, in Russia (the average price in Moscow) - $ 0.1 [3].
Kazakhstan has enormous potential energy resources, and one of the main tasks is that it is necessary to develop and create those legal institutions and priorities that in practice could really become the backbone elements of energy security and independence in the field of energy resources. It is necessary to look for opportunities to use alternative energy sources that would allow at least partially to overcome the dependence on exhaustible energy sources, such as coal and hydrocarbons. The EXPO-2017 exhibition gave a powerful impetus to the development of scientific thought both in solving the practical, theoretical and legal foundations of ensuring energy security. EXPO-2017 not only gave an impetus, but also laid the concrete foundations for substantiating the legal concept of energy security in the conditions of sufficiently developed market relations in Kazakhstan. In this legal concept, it is necessary to lay a tendency for the dynamic development of the economy of our country on the basis of those legal ideas and principles on which the Energy Security Concept of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be based. The harsh economic realities of the present and the future pose, in the context of globalization, new practical and theoretical tasks in the field of intensive development of energy law. Due to the low price of hydrocarbons, the economic recession has affected almost all major players in the commodity market. It is necessary to revise the system of views on world economic processes with the goal of real legal protection of the national economy of Kazakhstan.
As we see, our country is considering various ways in the field of achieving certain goals. It should be noted that without ecological balance and balance it is difficult to imagine the construction of a conceptually new energy security system in our country. We must understand that the construction of an environmental safety system must be based on certain basic elements. For example, the presence of an advanced high-tech energy security system must necessarily be combined and go along with the achievement of environmental safety goals. All this is the links of one chain, for example, based on national priorities and state interests, it is possible in the future to create a certain ideological intellectual base for the development of national and state programs providing a transition to the concept of environmental and energy security, as the main critical elements in the national security system of Kazakhstan.
It must be thought that in the near future the reserves of mineral raw materials and minerals will come to an end, since hydrocarbon raw materials and coal are exhaustible minerals. In this regard, today it is necessary to take concrete measures in the field of developing a scientific fundamental basis for the use of alternative energy sources, the so-called energy of the future.
That is, based on the experience of recent decades, we believe that it is necessary now to prepare an economic platform and a legal bridgehead, i.e. legislative framework for the phased implementation of new, innovative and high-tech components and components of the future energy security system of Kazakhstan. If you think over in advance the whole sequence of steps for introducing into the daily life of various segments of alternative energy sources, then in the future this should be built into an innovative conceptually new national security system in the field of the use of energy resources of our country. So that in the distant future, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren could, without worrying about tomorrow, create and build a bright future for our country. We must now prepare for this a launching pad and an innovative foundation for the development and widespread introduction of the energy of the future. Looking far into the future, we cannot but anticipate our future paths of creation for the full and high-tech development of our great beautiful country.
In order to accelerate the pace of development of the economy of the republic and improve the quality of life of the population through the use of digital technologies in the medium term, as well as creating the conditions for the transition of the economy of Kazakhstan to a fundamentally new development path that ensures the creation of a digital economy of the future, the state program Digital Kazakhstan was prepared , where the relevance and timeliness of developing segments of production, processing and industry is noted “Digitalization of industry power and power industry. "
The main global trend in the energy sector is the introduction of various Smart technologies in order to ensure effective information exchange between all elements and network participants, to protect and self-repair from major failures, natural disasters, and external threats. The target state of the electric power industry is characterized by further intellectualization of energy systems (Smart Grid). An intelligent energy system will have the ability to control the behavior of all its participants in order to ensure a sustainable, adaptive, cost-effective, reliable and safe power supply.
The task of building and efficient functioning of the smart energy system affects all participants in the electric power industry: generation, transmission, distribution, marketing, consumption and system operation. In this regard, in accordance with the unified technical policy, it is necessary to carry out comprehensive modernization using new equipment, which allows creating conditions for the integration of distribution networks and power plants into the smart energy system. The introduction of full accounting of the consumed and produced energies, the so-called Smart metering system, and further the automatic processing of big data (big data) will make it possible to systematize the demand response, including by improving the tariff policy for end consumers.
In order to increase energy efficiency and reduce energy losses, the introduction of intelligent energy management systems and energy-saving technologies among industry will be stimulated. This will allow the consumer to interact with the power system, in particular, be able to choose tariffs, manage their own energy consumption, generate electricity in the network with their own renewable energy sources and sell electricity.
In particular, it is planned to implement initiatives in the National Electric Grid to increase the efficiency and ensure the reliability of the operation of the Unified Energy System of Kazakhstan, which will increase the transmission of electricity through the network, reduce power imbalances when working with adjacent energy systems, and reduce the number of consumers disconnected due to technological failures in the network.
The adaptive control technologies planned for use, based on synchronized vector measurements, will provide the ability to visualize and control processes in real time. This will allow monitoring the stability of the energy system, efficiently using the equipment of the energy system due to the maximum use of the transmission line capacity, creating new control algorithms for the electric power network using the current parameters of the state of the system, and evaluating the state of the energy system online [4]. Subsoil use at the moment is the basis of the real sector of the economy of Kazakhstan. However, the sector of high-value-added manufacturing is still underdeveloped. The electric power industry meets the needs of the population and production, but requires a transition to a more technologically advanced and resource-saving level.
Kazakhstan is one of the world leaders in mineral reserves. The country's raw material base ranks first in the world in explored reserves of zinc, tungsten, barite, second in uranium, silver, lead and chromite, sixth in gold, twelfth in oil, and fourteenth in natural gas reserves.
Given the shortage and fragility of energy resources, the problem of energy security is considered as a component of the country's national security. Given the limited and scarce energy resources in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the problem of energy security is considered as an integral part of national security. The main factors determining the degree of use of any energy source are its estimated reserves, net useful energy output, cost, potential hazardous environmental impacts, as well as social consequences and impact on state security. Each energy source has advantages and disadvantages, as a result of which the development and consumption of these sources in the global energy sector is substantially different, writes Professor G. Korenchuk. [5,42].
Also, we share the opinion of Aldiyarov, who clearly defines the main vectors and directions of energy independence of any country. The energy independence of a particular country is traditionally assessed by the availability of the required type of energy in the required amount of demand due to the country's own resources for this type of energy in the period under review over a wide range of changes in internal and external conditions. With this formulation, the main indicators of energy independence will be:
- sufficiency and availability of primary energy for the needs of the country's economy;
- the sufficiency of equipment for the conversion of primary energy to other types of energy for each of them;
- the sufficiency of the performance of transport infrastructure for each type of energy (primary and / or converted);
- environmental acceptability of extraction, conversion and energy consumption of various types and forms.
Energy independence is a powerful mechanism to ensure the country's energy security and a guarantee of energy sustainability of development in relation to external factors [6, p. 36].
Factors of energy independence, which ensure the availability of the required type of energy in the required volumes in any region, are the main indicators of energy security in relation to internal exposure. These same factors characterize the stability of the country's energy sector to external conditions. Energy security along with factors affecting energy independence is also determined by the affordability of each type of energy. These formulations show that these definitions - independence, security, efficiency and stability in energy - with a sufficient difference, are closely intertwined and have a mutual influence. General principles of sustainable development include the requirements of safeguarding the interests of future generations and preserving the environment. The main parameters that determine the sustainable development of the energy sector according to this principle are:
- the world level of economic and technical efficiency in the entire cycle of the country's energy complex;
- the level of impact of energy on the environment, providing self-healing;
- domestic policy aimed at ensuring the availability of the quantity of all required types of energy to all social groups of the population not lower than a certain social minimum;
- allowable level and uneven consumption by region;
- The optimal institutional structure of the energy complex;
- participation in international energy markets.
Kazakhstan, being one of the dynamically developing exporters of energy resources, whose role in the future will steadily increase, fully realizes its responsibility in the supply of hydrocarbons to the world market [7.69].
In our opinion, energy security as a key factor in international stability is one of the most important political and economic priorities of Kazakhstan. Our country is an important element of the global energy infrastructure, therefore, an essential component of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy is aimed at solving the problem of ensuring stable and safe export routes for domestic hydrocarbon raw materials. Our energy strategy is based on the principle of economic feasibility and minimization of the technogenic impact of energy on the environment. We will continue to adhere to the position of diversification of hydrocarbon transportation routes to the world market and the most efficient functioning of pipeline systems. The key to international energy stability is not only the combination of the interests of consumers and suppliers of resources, but also the harmonization of approaches of global geopolitical players, as well as transnational energy corporations. Analysts' calculations show that by the middle of the century, half of the electricity consumed by a person will be extracted from the energy of the sun and wind. The same challenge is facing Kazakhstan. Experts believe that it is quite real. However, it is noted that the specific nature of the climatic conditions does not allow us to use existing facilities for the "green energy".
Today, in our opinion, it is highly relevant that our country is one of the largest players in the world in the market of energy raw materials. Kazakhstan has a very promising position as a supplier of hydrocarbons, coal and uranium. The merit of our Leader of the Nation of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev is that in practice, a program has been launched to digitalize the energy sector of our country, which will present innovative developments directly related to alternative energy sources. Central Asia has great potential to become one of the global energy centers. "We see the future of the region in the development of a system of oil and gas pipelines exporting our hydrocarbon resources to Europe and Asia," said Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The problems of ensuring the energy security of the Republic of Kazakhstan require the adoption of complex decisions based on in-depth scientific research, including legal decisions. It should be noted that the problems of ensuring energy security have not been studied enough. There is no comprehensive study that would analyze the theoretical problems of energy security, legal principles and problems of legislative support in the field of energy security. The problem of legal support of energy security was considered and investigated in the works of famous Kazakhstani legal scholars in the field of environmental law: D.L. Baideldinov, A.E. Zhatkanbaeva, L.K. Erkinbaeva, J.S. Elyubaev, A.K. Dzhangabulova, N.S. Baimbetov, etc.
Based on the foregoing, we come to certain conclusions and suggestions. First, adopt as much of the positive as possible in the field of innovative energy conservation. This experience needs to be borrowed from developed world leaders in the field of energy security. Secondly, in our opinion, it is necessary to develop state programs in the educational sphere to create new vectors in the field of secondary specialized and higher education, which are directly related to the training of specialists in the field of rational use of energy resources and energy conservation. It might be possible to take as an example and accordingly create a draft legal document that would also provide for a clear state legal mechanism to overcome the negative factors that impede the achievement of real energy security in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
- Message from the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - the Leader of the Nation, N. Nazarbayev to the People of Kazakhstan “Kazakhstan-2050 Strategy: A New Political Course for a Successful State” (Astana, December 14, 2012) https://online.zakon.kz/Document/ ? doc_id = 31305418 # pos = 3; -90
- Adilov S. In one connection with the whole world https://polpred.com/?ns=1&ns_id=1993440 3. Energy integration in the Eurasian Union: a view from Armenia // https://eurasia.expert/energeticheskaya-integratsiya-v-evraziyskom-soyuze-vzglyad-iz-armenii/
- Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated December 12, 2017 No. 827 “On approval of the State program“ Digital Kazakhstan ”. //https://online.zakon.kz/Document/?doc_id=37168057#pos=1139;-26
- Korenchuk G. Energy security - environmental aspect // Republican political journal Thought No. 4, 2012 P.42
- Aldiyarov B.K. Kazakhstan: Energy Security, Energy Independence and Sustainability of Energy Development. Status and prospects //http://www.clrma-teaction.kz/uploads/ Kazakhstan Energy Profile.
- A. Elibaeva Energy security of Kazakhstan as a factor in sustainable development. Bulletin of KazNU. A series of international relations and international law. No5 (55), 2011