Masdar starts Kazakh wind power push

Masdar has broken ground on a 1GW wind farm in Kazakhstan’s Zhambyl region, marking its first renewable energy development in the country and a major step in Abu Dhabi’s push to build round-the-clock clean power platforms across Central Asia.

The $1.4 billion project combines utility-scale wind generation with a 600MWh battery energy storage system designed to support grid stability in southern Kazakhstan. The development is being led by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC, known as Masdar, with W Solar, Qazaq Green Power, a Samruk-Kazyna Fund company, and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund as co-developers.

The project is among the largest integrated wind and battery storage schemes in Central Asia. Once completed, it is expected to generate enough clean electricity to supply about 880,000 homes in southern Kazakhstan and avoid about 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. More than 400km of overhead transmission lines will also be built to strengthen the region’s power infrastructure and connect the wind capacity to the wider grid.

The groundbreaking follows a series of agreements that moved the project from planning to execution. Masdar and its partners signed key development documents during COP28, followed by a power purchase agreement and an investment agreement during COP29 in Baku. The project company, Qazaq Wind Power LLP, will sell electricity to Kazakhstan’s Financial Settlement Centre for Renewable Energy Sources Support under a power purchase structure linked to the country’s renewable energy framework.

The wind farm is also linked to Kazakhstan’s wider effort to reduce dependence on coal-fired generation, which still dominates its power mix. The government has set targets to raise the share of renewable energy in electricity generation to 15 per cent by 2030 and 50 per cent by 2050, while pursuing carbon neutrality by 2060. The Zhambyl project gives those targets a bankable anchor at a time when large-scale clean power projects in the region are increasingly being paired with storage to reduce intermittency.

Masdar also signed a roadmap agreement with Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development to advance the country’s first round-the-clock clean energy project. The proposed initial phase is designed to provide up to 200MW of baseload power for data centres and AI infrastructure, reflecting the growing link between renewable energy deployment and the electricity demand created by digital services.

The agreement will cover site identification, technical assessment and stakeholder coordination. It also extends a broader collaboration signed between Masdar and Samruk-Kazyna to explore up to 500MW of 24/7 baseload renewable energy and battery projects with capacity of up to 2GW. The push signals a shift from standalone wind and solar assets towards clean power systems that can serve industrial users, data centres and grid operators with more predictable supply.

Kazakhstan’s appeal to renewable energy developers rests on strong wind corridors, large land availability and a power system requiring modernisation. The country is Central Asia’s largest economy and a major energy producer, but its ageing grid and coal-heavy generation fleet have created pressure for investment in new capacity. Southern Kazakhstan has faced supply constraints, making transmission upgrades and storage assets important parts of the project’s design.

The Zhambyl development has also drawn scrutiny because of its size and environmental footprint. Project documents classify it as a high environmental and social risk development because of biodiversity sensitivities, bird and bat collision risks, proximity to cultural heritage areas, land acquisition needs and the complexity of associated infrastructure. The project is expected to require mitigation measures covering habitat management, community engagement, livelihood restoration and construction impacts.

Those risks are common to large wind schemes in open landscapes and migration corridors, but they carry heightened importance in a project combining 140 wind turbines, battery facilities and long-distance transmission infrastructure. The environmental and social assessments point to impacts that are largely site-specific and manageable, provided monitoring and mitigation commitments are maintained through construction and operation.

Masdar’s Kazakhstan move comes as the UAE company expands aggressively beyond the Gulf. It has set a target of reaching 100GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and has identified Central Asia as a strategic growth region. Its portfolio already includes projects in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, while the Kazakhstan development gives it a foothold in a market where sovereign wealth funds, state utilities and foreign energy groups are competing to finance the next wave of power infrastructure.