Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) will support a feasibility study of a project on the construction of a gas-fired power plant in northwest Kazakhstan.

To this end, the agency awarded a grant to Batys Transit Joint Stock Company (BTTR), Tren Agency reported.

"We are pleased that this study will address provincial power needs and encourage industrial development in Aktobe province by assessing the potential of increasing gas-fired and renewable power generation," USTDA Director Leocadia I. Zak said at a ceremony of awarding the grant.

The grant will help BTTR to determine the technical and financial feasibility of a 25-100 megawatt gas-fired power plant, as well as review options for producing renewable energy.

The Aktobe province needs additional generation to meet the demand for power in northwestern Kazakhstan. This project will reduce BTTR's current purchasing of grid power to replace its line losses and potentially provide additional power to Aktobe's grid.

The grant agreement was signed by the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires, Ambassador John Ordway, and BTTR's CEO Kurmangazy Ibrahimov.

The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded feasibility study will be put up for grab on the Federal Business Opportunities' (FBO) website.

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has worked in Kazakhstan since 1992. BTTR, a private sector transmission line operator established in 2005 to address the need for additional power supply in Aktobe province, is also one of the first successful public-private partnerships in Kazakhstan.