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EU invests in Kazakhstan's green energy

24 July 2017 19:17 (UTC+04:00)
EU invests in Kazakhstan's green energy

By Kamila Aliyeva

The European Union supports the initiative of energy-rich Kazakhstan to develop its renewable sources for transition to the green energy production.

Over the past five years, the financial institutions of the European Union, specifically European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and European Investment Bank, have provided 500 million euros for development of the projects in the field of clean renewable energy in Kazakhstan, Kazinform reported.

These remarks were made by the Deputy Director General of the Energy Directorate Gerasimos Thomas on the sidelines of the forum held as part of EXPO-2017 in Astana.

The last transaction in the amount of 100 million euros was made last week, according to the Secretary General of the European Investment Bank Klaus Tromel.

“We try to deviate from the supply of exclusively oil and uranium from Kazakhstan [the delivery of uranium to the European Union countries from Kazakhstan takes about 21 percent of the total]. We plan to develop renewable energy sources. Of course, there are many already implemented as well as ongoing projects. Currently, the EU is focused on building energy-efficient buildings,” Thomas said.

He pointed out that the European Union is the largest foreign investor of Kazakhstan noting that EU member states' interest towards Kazakhstan continues to grow.

"Astana is definitely a new and innovative city and along with the Kazakh government policies, it has a great potential for development. But at the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the modernization of other cities and environmentally friendly solutions during construction. Energy efficiency strategies may be applied in any field, be it the development of agriculture, small and medium-sized businesses or civil society," Thomas added.

Kazakhstan plans generating 50 percent of its electricity from renewable and alternative energy sources according to President Nazarbayev’s ambitious 2050 strategy. This strategy is a part of the country’s comprehensive initiative to transfer itself from one of the world’s major hydrocarbon energy producers to the green economy model.

Transition to the green economy reduces risks of global threats such as climate change, exhaustion of natural resources and deficit of water.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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