French oil and gas major TotalEnergies and the Government of Kazakhstan have signed an agreement on investment (AoI) for the 1GW Mirny wind project in the Zhambyl region of the country.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev by TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné and Kazakhstan Energy Minister Satkaliyev Almassadam at the COP28 summit in Dubai.

The Mirny project is being developed with a total estimated investment of $1.4bn.

It includes a 1GW onshore wind farm powered by 160 turbines and a 600 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system.

The French company is developing the project in partnership with the Kazakh national wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna and company KazMunayGas. Each of the two Kazakh entities holds a 20% stake in the project.

Mirny will be the largest wind farm project to be built in Kazakhstan and will generate enough clean electricity for one million people.

It will also avert 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

The AoI follows a 25-year power purchase agreement signed by TotalEnergies in June 2023 to supply the Mirny project’s entire output to the state-owned Financial Settlement Center of Renewable Energy.

Pouyanné stated: “At COP28, more than 110 nations committed to tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030. TotalEnergies supports this call. With this innovative wind and battery project, our company is making a direct contribution to this ambition and to the energy transition in Kazakhstan.

“The signing of this Agreement on Investment will... launch the Mirny project, which will help TotalEnergies triple its power generation from 33TWh [terawatt-hours] to more than 100TWh by 2030.”

The project will support Kazakhstan’s goal of generating 15% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.