In some countries, wind turbines have met the energy needs of industries. For example, the number of active wind farms in Denmark has increased every year since 2011 to a peak in 2017, when it reached 2,252. In 2020, there were about 6,230 active wind turbines. The majority of operating wind turbines in Denmark were on land, about 5,700 compared to 558 on land. And also as a leading country in this direction, it is in Denmark that, as of 2019, more than 47 percent of total electricity consumption is covered by wind energy. This is an increase from the previous year, when coverage reached 40.5 %. Undoubtedly, many countries are striving for this indicator. The UK, Japan, and the US can also boast of their innovative wind farms.
How is renewable energy developing in our country?
Wind power in Kazakhstan continues its dynamic development, following the global trend. According to the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the use of wind turbines was started more than 10 years ago. The first wind farm was built in the region near the capital. Wind power plants are located mainly in Mangistau and Akmola regions, and according to statistics, by the end of 2019, out of 83 renewable energy stations with a total capacity of 968 MW, 18 stations accounted for almost 285 MW of wind power, which is 20% higher than all energy-producing renewable energy facilities.
A significant contribution to the development of renewable energy in Kazakhstan is also made by Development Bank of Kazakhstan JSC (DBK, "daughter" of the Baiterek Holding), which seeks to expand the loan portfolio "green" projects of the Kazakhstani electric power industry.
DBK has been providing loans to environmentally friendly production facilities since 2015; today the financial institute's portfolio includes 5 "green" projects. These are the commissioned Zhylga solar power station in the Turkestan region with a capacity of 20 MW" (EcoProTech-Astana LLP), a 100 MW solar power plant near the city of Kapshagai, Almaty region, Kun-Kuat (ENEVERSE KUNKUAT LLP). In addition to solar power plants, 2 more hydroelectric power stations are being built in the East and South. In the Akmola region, the wind power plant "Astana EXPO-2017", 100 MW" (1 start-up complex for 50 MW), (ЦАТЭК Green Energy LLP CGE) operates. Thus, DBK's loan portfolio contains projects of all natural elements - sun, water and wind.
"DBK started considering renewable energy projects in 2015, almost immediately after the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan established long-term fixed tariffs for the first time, introduced centralized purchase of electricity from various renewable energy facilities and after the initiators received the first PPA. With the development of renewable energy in Kazakhstan, DBK, together with its clients, also increased its competence. Specialists began to study the legislation and features of a particular station, technical nuances depending on the source of generation, location, equipment used, compared with world experience and implemented all the knowledge gained in the DBK" - says Aizhan Bitebayeva, Senior Banker of the DBK Customer Relations Directorate.
Thus, one of the renewable energy projects, in particular in the wind energy sector, is an enterprise located 40 kilometers from Nur-Sultan - Astana EXPO-2017 wind power plant with a capacity of 100 MW, which is implemented by ЦАТЭК Green Energy LLP (CGE) in two launch complexes. The first 50 MW start-up complex, which was commissioned on August 26, 2019, allows for an average annual output of about 170 million kWh . Reaching the designed capacity of the wind farm will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 230 thousand tons per year and provide energy to about 10 thousand households.
ЦАТЭК Green Energy LLP (CGE), which implements this project, was created in 2014 specifically for the implementation of projects in the field of renewable energy. Construction work and installation of wind turbines were preceded by a large amount of work. Initially, a 100-meter-high weather mast was installed in the center of the 1000-hectare land plot received in 2015. It has been used for more than two years to monitor the climatic parameters of the area: measurements of speed, wind directions, pressure, temperature, and other indicators. In total, more than 7 million wind measurements were carried out.
During the construction of the station, about 300 specialists were involved in different periods, ranging from loader operators to turbine installation engineers. Also, about 130 units of heavy equipment were involved in the construction phase, including cranes for installing 400 and 750 tons of turbines. After commissioning of the first launch complex, fifteen jobs were created. As the wind farm reaches its full capacity, the number of employees will be increased to 19.
The first stage of the wind farm is represented by 15 turbines manufactured by Vestas, the world leader in the production of wind turbines. The power of each turbine is 3.3 MW with a power mode of 3.45 MW, the height of the turbine is 84 meters, the diameter of the rotor (wind wheel) is 112 meters. Each mast has three blades with a length of 55 meters. The brain system of 139-meter wind turbines automatically detects wind speed and direction. The significant overall dimensions of wind turbine components made it difficult to deliver from countries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain to Nur-Sultan. They were transported to the capital of Kazakhstan by ships through Turkey and the Black Sea, the Volga-Don Canal and in the area of the port of Samara they were reloaded onto land transport, which brought them under escort to the suburb of Nur-Sultan. The delivery stretched for more than six thousand kilometers – the project turned out to be the longest in the world in terms of the length of delivery of turbines.
The operating wind speed range for each of the wind turbines is from 3 to 25 meters per second (the average annual wind speed in the area of the wind farm is 7.9 meters per second).
"Each of the wind turbines has a full-scale converter system that controls not only the operating mode of the wind turbine generator itself, but also controls the quality of the electricity supplied to the grid. From the power collection substation, all incoming electricity rises to a voltage of 220 thousand volts and through the 220 kV line we transfer further to the network of the system operator KEGOC JSC - explained Vladislav Garbovskiy, chief engineer of ЦАТЭК Green Energy LLP.
After the launch of the first launch complex, the construction of the second stage was started nearby. At the same time, on the second stage turbines, the length of one blade is 57 meters, and the rotor diameter is 117 meters.
The cost of the first stage of the power plant was KZT 45 billion. ЦАТЭК Green Energy invested less than 30% of this amount, the rest was raised from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan and its subsidiaries DBK-Leasing and DBK Equity Fund. Funding for the project was opened in December 2017 and in the summer of 2019, the first wind farm start-up complex was put into operation and is already contributing to the state's overall energy mix.
