Launch of Balkhash thermal power plant might be postponed

Commissioning of the Balkhash thermal power plant (due in 2018) might be postponed to 2022, according to the country’s Vice Minister of Energy Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev. He made the statement at the 48th sitting of the CIS Electric Power Industry Board.

The respective agreement between governments of Kazakhstan and South Korea on the Balkhash thermal power plant to be jointly constructed on the south-west shore of the Balkhash Lake close to Ekibastuz coal mine was signed back in 2011. Kazakhstan ratified the agreement in April 2013.

Tengrinews.kz reported earlier that the first two power generating units of the thermal power plant were to be commissioned in 2013, with the other two units being placed into operation in 2016. The design capacity of the power plant is 2 640 megawatt. The facility is be located on the south-west shore of the Balkhash Lake close to Ekibastuz coal mine.South Korea’s KEPCO and Samsung hold 75% minus one share, with the Kazakhstan Government holding 25% plus one share.

“Earlier we expected the power plant to be put in operation in 2018. However, with modernization of the already operating power plants and a decrease in consumption, the actual demand for the Balkhash power plant capabilities will be seen around 2022”, Newskaz.ru cited Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev as saying to journalists in Almaty today.

According to him, the shareholders are considering new proposals from lenders as the latter have toughened their requirements to the project.

“The lenders are putting forward new conditions. In times of economic downturns any lenders tend to toughen their lending conditions. Now the shareholders are studying the new conditions”, he said.