Kazakhstan Energy Situation

Kazakhstan
Capital	Astana (51°10′N 71°25′E)
Official language(s)	Kazakh (1st)/Russian (2nd)
Government	Presidential republic
President	Nursultan Nazarbayev
Prime Minister	Karim Massimov
Total area	2,724,900 km2
Population	16,600,000 (2011 estimate)
Population - Rural	41% (6.4 million
Population - Urban	59% (9.1 million)
Population Density	6 people/ km² (one of lowest in the world)
Avg. Household Size	6 members
Literacy Rate	99.5%
GDP (nominal)	$180.147 billion
GDP per Capita	$10,951
GNI per Capita	$ 7769.40
Currency	Tenge (KZT)
Time Zone	(UTC+5/6)
Calling Code	+7-6xx, +7-7xx

Geography and Climatic Conditions

The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia. The neighbouring countries are Russia in the North and West, China in the East, and Kyrgyztan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in the South. The capital of Kazakhstan is Astana and the country is administratively divided into 14 regions.

Semi-desert and desert land covers 60% of the territory, forest and steppe land areas comprise 10%, and about 5% is categorized as highlands. Forest covers 1.2% of the land but this number is quickly falling as the country experiences decreasing forest coverage of approx. -0.17% annually. The percentage of land to water is 98% to 2%.

The climate in Kazakhstan is continental with cold dry winters (below -50°C) and hot dry summers (more than 53°C). The precipitation ranges between 15 to 320 mm annually. The average minimum temperature is 3.8°C and the average maximum temperature is about 14.6°C with regional differences in the north, south and west .  

Kazakhstan has 220 million hectares of agricultural land, of which 10.8% is arable land, 2.2% is haying land, and 85% is pasturable land.

Socio-economic Development

The population of Kazakhstan is 15.5 million. Population density is 5.7 people per square meter, which is one of the lowest in the world. In terms of the rural to urban population ratio, 52.6% comprises the urban population and 47.7% comprises the rural population. The literacy (age 15+) is 99.5%.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) until 2010 was around 149 billion US$, refering to 9,200 US$ per capita. National income sources consist of 5.4% agriculture, 42.8% industry, and 51.8% services. The annual GDP growth rate was about 7% in 2010, 1.2% in 2009, and  3.2% in 2008. Main agricultural export products are grain, flour, cotton (15%), and leather, as well as wool (25%).

There is a discrepancy between rural and urban population income. While 32% of the rural population lives below the poverty line, the urban rate is 16%.

National Energy Situation

Kazakhstan is rich in reserves of fossil fuel. It owns about 0.5% of the world´s mineral energy resources, equaling 90 billion tons of oil equivalent. This number includes 70% coal, 22% oil, and 8% gas. 99% of its energy needs are covered by fossil sources. The fuel energy sector production contributes about 17% of the GDP.

Primary energy in Kazakhstan are fossil fuel resources with the following share in 2006: 19% oil, 49% coal, and 31% gas. The share of renewable energy, mainly hydro power, is about 1%. Data on the use of traditional fuel sources such as firewood for domestic use were not available.

In 2006, the electricity generation in Kazakhstan was 71.6 billion kWh. About 70% of the total generation comes from coal, 10.6% from gas, 4.9% from oil, and 14.6% from hydro power. The share of power consumer is: 68.7% industry, 9.3% households, 8% service sector, 5.6% transportation, and 1.2% agriculture. Electricity prices are 0.067US$/kWh for private consumers and 0.052US$ for the industrial sector.

The mayority of of the distribution network has not yet been privatized. Even the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) has granted several management rights to private companies. The policy is focused on energy saving and optimization of current electric plants with fossil energy sources. The main problem people are facing with regard to energy and electricity is the low capacity of the centralized power stations in the south of the country. High transmission losses (25 - 50%) and the deterioration of transmission lines cause electricity shortage in remote rural areas. Only a small fraction of around 3.5% of rural settlements do not have access to energy and electricity. About 1% of the population is not connected to the grid in rural areas.

The present share of using renewable energies in Kazakhstan is very small due to the low prices for fossil energy. But the potential is estimated to be high:

Wind energy: Kazakhstan has enormous wind resources due the location in the northern hemisphere´s wind belt, but only a small part of the wind potential is used; 500kv out of a potential 1.3 trillion kWh of electric energy per year at the Jungar Gates is used.

Solar energy: Kazakhstan has 2,200 - 3,000 sunshine hours anually, which equals 1,300 - 1,800 kWm² energy. Despite the very favourable conditions for solar energy, there is little use of the resource.

 

Household energy situation

 Share of Fuel Types

Percentage of energy types used for cooking in urban areas 

Percentage of energy types used for cooking in rural areas

 

Share of Solid Fuels

The percentage of the population using solid fuels (charcoal, coal, cropwaste, dung and wood) as cooking energy:

National: 11.6%, Urban: 5.5%, Rural: 25.2% 

The energy demand for heating is assumed to be high due to the cold winters, but quantitative data are not available as of yet.

Solid Fuel Use Impact on Health

• Total annual deaths attributable to solid fuel use: < 100 persons
• Percentage of national burden of diseases attributable to solid fuel use: 0%

 

Potentials

Private households mainly in rural areas use solar-thermal energy. A market for the equipment is not existent.  

References

The information refer to the following sources:

• WHO 
• CIA factbook
• GIZ (2009): Regional Reports on Renewable Energies - 30 Country Analysis on Potentials and markets in West Africa (17), East Africa (5) and Central Asia (8)