Kazakhstan to export electricity to China

• 9 years ago (2015-01-28)
• Junior Isles

Asia 850

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Kazakhstan plans to sell electricity to China, the country's Energy Minister Vladimi Shkolnik announced in a lower house session earlier this week.

He said that both Kazakhstan and China were considering the construction of an electricity transmission line from Kazakhstan's Ekibastuz to Hami substation in the Xiniang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

Shkolnik said that "it will allow [Kazakhstan] to export up to 6 GW of electricity to China", while also noting that both countries had already began negotiations on the matter.

He added: “This process would create serious growth in Kazakhstan's export market and more revenue for the state budget… and should agreement be reached on the price of electricity and the export volumes, there will be opportunity to construct new coal-fired power plants in the Ekibastuz and Torgai deposits."

Shkolnik also said that Kazakhstan imported 644 million kWh and exported 2.009 billion kWh last year, and that the prospective deal with China could see Kazakhstan maximise its status as an energy exporter.