Kazakhstan to Construct 32 Small Hydropower Plants on Water Infrastructure

Kazakhstan is launching a large-scale program to construct small hydropower plants at existing and prospective water management facilities. The state enterprise Kazvodkhoz has selected 32 sites – including both current and planned infrastructure – for the installation of new generating capacities. This initiative is being implemented under a national roadmap designed to expand local renewable energy production and optimize the use of the country’s water systems.

The deployment of these units is organized into three phases. The first stage involves the construction of facilities with a combined capacity of approximately 9 MW at five established locations. These include the Samarkand reservoir in the Karaganda region, the Kargaly reservoir in the Aktobe region, the Karakol reservoir in the Abai region, and the Karatomar and Upper Tobol reservoirs in the Kostanay region.

The second phase anticipates a significant expansion of the program, with small hydropower plants totaling roughly 25 MW to be built at 18 sites. The third phase focuses on future infrastructure and includes nine potential locations. Six of these sites will be integrated directly into new reservoir projects scheduled for development in the Abai and East Kazakhstan regions.

Technical documentation for the first and second stages is currently under development, while project implementation mechanisms are being finalized. Kazvodkhoz already operates three small hydropower plants with a combined capacity of approximately 5 MW. These existing facilities are located in the North Kazakhstan and Karaganda regions, as well as on the transboundary Khorgos River.