Russia will not participate in the construction of three combined heat and power plants (CHP) in Kazakhstan. The projects in the cities of Kokshetau, Semey, and Ust-Kamenogorsk will be implemented by a Kazakh-Singaporean consortium. This was announced by Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Energy, Sungat Yessimkhanov, at a government briefing, reports Tengrinews.kz.
According to the Vice Minister, contracts for the construction of CHPs in Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk have already been signed, and work on the projects will begin soon. It is expected that the active phase of work will commence in May 2026 — orders for the main equipment will be placed, and engineering surveys and site preparations will begin. The delivery of key equipment is planned for the third quarter of 2027, and the stations are expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2029.
The CHP project in Kokshetau is in the preparation stage. Work on laying communications and constructing access roads has already been completed. The development of project-estimate documentation is ongoing, and the construction of the administrative building will start in 2026. The project also plans to increase the thermal capacity of the station from 520 to 820 gigacalories, and corresponding changes have been made to the contract with the contractor. The commissioning of the CHP in Kokshetau is scheduled for the first quarter of 2029.
Yessimkhanov noted that all three projects will be implemented using modern technologies, including “clean coal” and elements of artificial intelligence. The contracts stipulate that the contractors will be Kazakh-Singaporean companies with experience and access to advanced technologies. The Vice Minister emphasized that the projects are important for the country, and the responsibility for their implementation falls on those who take on the obligations for construction.
The construction cost of the CHP in Kokshetau is estimated at 350 billion tenge, while the construction of the CHPs in Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk will cost approximately 400 billion tenge each. The Vice Minister also clarified that these projects will not be directly financed from the state budget. The companies undertaking their construction will independently raise the necessary funds, and the state will start disbursing funds only after the facilities are commissioned, allowing the contractors to repay loans.
Russia’s participation remained in question
Initially, the projects for the construction of these CHPs in Kokshetau, Semey, and Ust-Kamenogorsk were planned to be implemented with Russia’s participation. Negotiations with the Russian side on this matter had been ongoing since November 2023, when Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin announced the intention to sign a cooperation agreement between the countries. However, the timelines and terms for implementing the projects were revised several times, and Russia’s participation remained in question.
In November 2024, a bill was passed for the ratification of an agreement involving Russia in design, equipment supply, and financing through concessional loans. However, in May 2025, the Kazakh side began to consider the possibility of changing the investor amid funding issues, including the provision of export financing for the projects. This decision was not related to sanctions, but was due to the need for a stable source of financing.
By October 2025, a decision on Russia’s participation in the projects had still not been made. At that time, Kazakh officials stated that the projects would continue to be prepared, but the financing issue remained unresolved. In December of the same year, a final decision was made: the CHP in Kokshetau would be built without Russia’s involvement, and the two other projects — in Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk — would also fully transition to Kazakh and international (Singaporean) financing.
