Authorities in East Kazakhstan are negotiating with state-owned China Huadian Corporation to develop two new hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 51.4 megawatts, regional officials said.
A regional delegation led by Governor Yermek Kosherbayev proposed project sites in the Katon-Karagay and Altay districts during talks with the Chinese power company’s management. The proposed facilities are intended to utilize the hydrological potential of mountainous rivers in the eastern part of the country.
China Huadian has granted preliminary approval for the initiative. Technical specialists from the corporation are scheduled to visit East Kazakhstan next month to assess engineering feasibility on site and gather hydrological data, according to Ardak Madiyev, head of the regional department for entrepreneurship and industrial development.
The venture would draw on the Chinese company’s engineering experience in adapting hydropower designs to mountainous terrain. The project continues a pattern of cross-border energy cooperation in the region, which previously saw the completion and commissioning of the Turgusun-1 hydropower plant with Chinese participation.
