Kazakhstan will wait for cheaper alternative energy

Chairman of Kazenergy Association Timur Kulibayev said that implmenetation of the alternative energy in Kazakhstan is currently an unprofitable business and suggested to wait until the process of wind and solar energy production becomes cheaper,” Tengrinews.kz reports from the 7th Eurasian forum KAZENERGY called A World in Transition: Shaping Sustainable Energy Future. “It is very trendy (alternative energy) and very modern. Everybody talks about it. The one not talking about is considered to have out-of-fashion views. God gave Kazakhstan a whole range of hydrocarbons: we have oil, gas and coal. We are the biggest producers of raw materials for uranium products. "In general it is obvious that the energy balance is changing with the development of technologies. Europe, for example, is replacing its very expensive gas with just expensive alternative energy. All technologies are becoming cheaper and at some point - as the technologies spread - the alternative energy will become more affordable. Of course, by that moment we will have to be ready to plunge into development of alternative energy sources here,” Kulibayev said at the press-conference. “We have enough sun; many of Kazakhstan’s regions have sun for over 300 days a year. Besides, there are 5 area that have been identified as execellent spots for development of wind energy. But right now the energy to be produced by alternative sources in Kazakhstan is more expensive than the one we already generate (using tranditional methods),” he noted. Kulibayev also stated that oil production and geological exploration are becoming more expensive these days, which results in oil prices growth. Thus, the alternative energy will take its place in the global energy balance. By Renat Tashkinbayev