The cost of the North–South direct current line project, which will allow up to 2,000 MW of electricity to be transferred from northern to southern Kazakhstan, has risen to 733 billion tenge. This was announced by Kanat Ayapbergenov, Managing Director for National Power System Development at KEGOC, according to infohub.kz.
The cost escalation is striking: in October 2023, the figure was 425.23 billion tenge; by late 2024, it had grown to 538 billion tenge; and now it has reached 733 billion tenge.
"You are right (the project cost has increased compared to the original – Kursiv). This was after the first discussion. When the price was 500... billion tenge, it was a 1 GW project. That is, we increased capacity to 2 GW. Due to the fact that we see growth in consumption and generation, in order to make the power system more sustainable, we increased capacity almost twofold, but, as you can see, in terms of prices, the cost rose by only 30%, roughly speaking," said Kanat Ayapbergenov.
According to him, the cost increase is specifically linked to the expansion of the line's transmission capacity, which is planned to be commissioned in 2029.
The KEGOC managing director noted that the highest energy consumption is concentrated in the south of the country, and these volumes continue to grow amid population growth and the opening of industrial enterprises. In this regard, the direct current line from the north, where there is surplus capacity, to the south will help smooth out emerging imbalances.
The existing three north–south power transmission lines – two through the center of the country and one through the eastern part – are loaded at 100% and no longer have sufficient capacity reserves. Therefore, any disruptions in southern Kazakhstan or in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan affect the country's power system, creating additional load on the southern section.
According to Kanat Ayapbergenov, the construction of the direct current line will in the future reduce the power system's dependence on such cross-border factors and avoid similar situations.
"The project is unique – direct current technology has not been used in the post-Soviet space. We plan to be the first to apply it. What does this project provide? This project enables the transmission of up to 2 GW of electricity between the North and the South," he said.
In addition to transferring electricity from north to south, the system will also allow energy to be sent from south to north, as well as to service electricity transit from Russia through Kazakhstan to Central Asian countries.
The feasibility study for this project has been completed, and the documentation is at the approval stage. Construction is planned for 2027–2030.
Recall that on August 14, a large-scale power outage – a blackout – occurred in Almaty and other southern regions of Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Energy linked the incident to the shutdown of hydrogenerators No. 1 and No. 2 at the Toktogul hydropower plant in Kyrgyzstan, with a combined capacity of about 625 MW.
This shutdown led to a power surge on the North–South transit and its overload. After the emergency automation was triggered, the southern zone of Kazakhstan separated from the country's Unified Power System and the Unified Power System of Central Asia.
Consumers in Almaty, Zhambyl, Turkistan, Kyzylorda, and Zhetisu regions, as well as in Karaganda region, Ulytau and Abai regions, were left without electricity.