Solar power plant developed by Nazarbayev University researchers and SunPower presented in Astana

A solar power plant SunPower Oasis C-7 with a capacity of 25 kilowatt peak (kWp) has been presented in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, Tengrinews reports citing the Department of Communications and Marketing of Astana-based Nazarbayev University.

The project of the solar power plant is being implemented by Nazarbayev University Research and Innovation System together with French oil giant Total and its subsidiary SunPower, a world leader in solar power technology and energy production.

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The ceremony was attended by Managing Director of Total E&P Kazakhstan Brendan McMahon, President of Nazarbayev University Shigeo Katsu, Vice-President for Innovation of Nazarbayev University and head of NURIS Kanat Baigarin as well as experts in the field of renewable energy.

“This project will help us address the problem of power supply in remote villages and rural areas. Moreover, it will help cut the emissions of hazardous substances into the atmosphere, because traditional energy sources generate toxic substances and carcinogens. The solar power station has a high productivity (approximately two times that of conventional solar power plants)," the project's manager Farkhat Muratov said.

SunPower Oasis system is able to concentrate the power of the sun sevenfold by combining a single-axis tracking technology with parabolic mirror rows reflecting the sun's light ont silicon SunPower Maxeon solar cells, which thereby doubles the system's performance and the amount of electricity it generates.

Furthermor, SunPower Oasis is aimed at achieving lower costs compared to its alternatives. This system can produce electricity at the cost of less than $0.1 per kW/h, as evidenced by the systems installed in the UAE and the USA, which at least two times cheaper than traditional systems.

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The pilot operation of the project will continue during the next two years to study the potential of the system and its possible uses at large-scale industrial projects in remote regions of Kazakhstan.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina