Italian energy giant Eni will help build a 250 MW hybrid renewables-gas power plant in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, the company announced on Thursday after talks in Astana between the country's president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.
KazMunayGas (KMG) and Eni have inked an accord to jointly construct in Zhanaozen a solar power plant, a wind power plant and a gas power plant for the production and supply of low-carbon and stable electricity to KMG subsidiaries in the area, in what is a pioneering project, said an Eni statement.
“Eni is strongly committed to strengthen its leadership in Kazakhstan energy transition," said Descalzi, according to the statement.
"The project we announced today marks a further step towards growing Eni’s renewable generation capacity, while supporting Kazakhstan's decarbonization path," Descalzi underlined.
The hybrid plant will address the diversification and decarbonization of energy supply for the Mangystau region and will "contribute to the human capital development in the renewable energy sector", the statement said.
During their talks, Descalzi outlined to Tokayev Eni's 'gas valorization' strategy in Karachaganak and Kashagan, which is aimed at meeting domestic gas demand and boosting green transition investments in renewables and bio-feedstocks, said the statement.
Eni has operated in Kazakhstan since 1992, where it is a joint operator of the Karachaganak field and an equity partner in several projects in the Northern Caspian Sea, including the vast Kashagan field.
With KMG, Eni jointly operates the Abay exploration block. In the Kazakh renewables sector, Eni operates through Arm Wind, a division of its Plenitude subsidiary, with an overall installed or under construction capacity of 150 MW, the statement noted.
