French oil and gas major TotalEnergies has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply all the electricity generated from the 1GW Mirny wind farm in Kazakhstan to the state-owned Financial Settlement Center of Renewable Energy.
To be located in the Zhambyl region of the country, the wind farm will include a 600 megawatt-hour battery energy storage system to ensure reliable power supply.
The total estimated cost of the wind farm’s development will be $1.4bn.
TotalEnergies’ subsidiary Total Eren is developing the project in partnership with Kazakhstan's national wealth fund, Samruk-Kazyna, and the national company KazMunayGas. The two Kazakh entities will each own a 20% stake in the project.
Electricity from the wind farm will be sold to the Financial Settlement Center of Renewable Energy for the national grid under the 25-year PPA.
It will meet the power requirements of one million people and help to avoid 3.5 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually.
The Mirny wind farm will feature 200 turbines and will be the largest wind project in the country.
Supported by both the French and Kazakh authorities, it will contribute to Kazakhstan’s target of generating 15% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
TotalEnergies chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanné stated: “As a global energy leader, TotalEnergies is proud to drive the energy transition in Kazakhstan through such an innovative project as Mirny. This wind and battery project will contribute to the supply and security of the Kazakh power grid. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Kazakh authorities for their support and collaboration throughout this process.
“This represents a significant milestone in TotalEnergies' multi-energy strategy. TotalEnergies will bring its expertise in managing large-scale projects to make it a success.”
TotalEnergies previously developed two solar plants in Kazakhstan; M-KAT in the Zhambyl region and Nomad in the Kyzylorda region. Their total generating capacity is 128MW. M-KAT and Nomad both help to reduce the country's carbon emissions.