Signed! | Oil giant TotalEnergies agrees power deal for gigascale Kazakhstan wind farm
French supermajor to move forward with project which will be first on such a scale for nation
French oil and gas major TotalEnergies has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) underpinning Kazakhstan’s ground-breaking 1GW Mirny onshore wind park, located in the region of Zhambyl.
Billed as the front-runner among potential large-scale wind farm projects in Kazakhstan, Mirny will be combined with a 600 MWh battery energy storage system.
TotalEnergies said the project represents an investment of about $1.4bn and described it as an example of the company’s “ability to leverage its position as a major partner in the upstream oil and gas sector to speed up the development of renewable energy in oil and gas countries”.
Like some other European oil companies, TotalEnergies has pledged to increase investments in renewables as part of a long-term plan to become a net zero emission company, but statements of intent and cooperation agreements are taking time to mature into final investment decisions.
TotalEnergies faced down activist shareholders and climate activists at an annual general meeting held last month, amid growing demands for the company to accelerate its path to cleaner energy.
Among the promised destinations for significant investments is Iraq, where an agreement with the government covering up to $27bn in energy projects is focused primarily on oil and gas could include a 1GW solar project.
In Kazakhstan, electricity produced from the Mirny project will be sold to the government-owned Financial Settlement Centre of Renewable Energy (FSC) for supply to the national grid.
The PPA agreement was signed in the Kazakh capital of Astana between Total Eren, an affiliate of TotalEnergies, and the FSC.
Kazkh step change
The project will consist of around 200 turbines and is described as the largest wind energy initiative undertaken in Kazakhstan, where the government is pursuing a target of achieving 15% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Kazakhstan’s minister for energy and natural resources Almasadam Satkaliyev said: “This project will contribute to the transition of Kazakhstan to the green energy and will be a breakthrough in strengthening French-Kazakh investment cooperation.
TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne commented: “This wind and battery project will contribute to the supply and security of the Kazakh power grid. "
The Zhambyl region, in southern Kazakhstan borders, Kyrgyzstan near Uzbekistan, which is already leading former Soviet republics in Central Asia in terms of solar and wind initiatives.