World Bank Supports a Safe and Reliable Electricity Supply in Kazakhstan

The Project will expand the capacity of the Almaty Oblast transmission network in an environmentally responsible and financially sustainable manner.
The Bank will finance two components of the project: construction of a 500 kV overhead transmission line (OHTL) from the YuKGRES substation to the Alma substation, and procurement and project management consulting services for the construction of 500 kV OHTL from the YuKGRES substation to the Alma substation.
Total financing of the project is US$ 200.9 million, of which the Government of Kazakhstan will finance US$ 122.9 million from its own resources. The World Bank loan of US$ 78 million will have a maturity of 25 years with a 5 year grace period.
Strong economic growth, with an average real GDP growth of 10 percent between 2000 and 2007, and rising incomes fuelled increasing demand for electricity in Kazakhstan. Growth in electricity consumption averaged over 5 percent per year during this period.
The major portion of the growth in demand and more than half of total electricity consumption was in the booming Southern regions. In the Almaty Oblast in southern Kazakhstan growth in electricity consumption exceeded 7 percent per year from 2000 to 2007.
With the recent deepening of the world economic crisis, GDP growth, and in turn consumption growth, are likely to remain at lower levels.
However, the impact on growth in electricity demand in southern Kazakhstan will not be as significant, as the region has faced severe supply constraints in the past three years. Once the country recovers from the current economic slowdown, electricity demand in southern Kazakhstan is expected to increase vigorously.
The Kazakhstan Alma Electricity Transmission Project will enhance the well-being of the population in South Kazakhstan by providing relatively low-cost and higher quality energy; removing a binding energy supply constraint to continued economic growth in the region; and increasing the region’s competitiveness in industrial and commercial development with related employment and income benefits.