Kazakhstan has brought in Chinese contractors to build a combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Kokshetau, Kursiv.kz reported, citing the financial statements of Kokshetau CHP LLP, the project’s commissioning customer, which is jointly owned by Samruk-Kazyna and the state holding’s subsidiary Samruk-Energy (50 percent each).
Documents show that the Kazakh side signed contracts with Chinese companies worth a total of 356 billion tenge ($655 million). Shandong Yangguang Engineering Design Institute Co. was contracted to develop the project and cost documentation by December 1, 2028, for 10.9 billion tenge (over $20 million); POWERCHINA SEPCO1 Electric Construction Co. signed a contract to supply equipment and materials needed for the project by February 1, 2029, for 240.58 billion tenge (over $442 million); and Henan Province Installation Group Co. LLP was contracted to perform construction, installation, and commissioning works by February 1, 2029, for 104 billion tenge (over $191 million).
Before these contracts were signed, Kokshetau CHP had an agreement with Russia’s Inter RAO Export for the development of the plant’s project and cost documentation. However, in June this year, the company officially informed its Russian partner that the contract had not entered into force and that all further cooperation was terminated.
Kazakhstan had planned to build three coal-fired CHP plants jointly with Russia: in Semey (360 MW), Ust-Kamenogorsk (360 MW), and Kokshetau (240 MW). According to Interfax, the projects were to be implemented with Inter RAO as the general contractor. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Energy had indicated that the main financing scenario was a Russian government loan with subsidies. However, in May, Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar announced problems with securing concessional export financing for the equipment needed to build and operate the plants. He said Kazakhstan would look for new investors if the Russian side could not provide the funds.
In July, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov stated that Samruk-Energy was beginning construction of the Kokshetau CHP plant on its own because Russia’s Inter RAO had failed to arrange financing for the project.
