Eni signed three energy transition-related deals with Kazakh firms, including a commitment pact for a planned hybrid-fuel power projectEni SPA has signed three energy transition-related agreements with companies in Kazakhstan, including a commitment pact for a planned hybrid-fuel power project.
The Italian energy major and Kazakhstan’s state-owned NC KazMunayGas JSC inked a “joint confirmation” agreement on the 250-megawatt project announced June. To rise in the Mangystau region, it is planned to run on solar, wind and gas.
“Eni and KMG confirmed their readiness to proceed to the project’s implementation phase, which will supply KMG facilities in the area with low-carbon, stable electricity produced from solar and wind, and will be balanced with additional capacity from a gas power plant”, Rome-based Eni said in a recent press release. “The project leverages Eni’s international industrial expertise and pioneers the hybrid combination of state-of-the-art renewable power plants, developed by Eni’s subsidiary Plenitude in cooperation with KMG, and gas power plants for balancing capacity”.
The two parties signed the confirmation agreement during a meeting in Rome, where two more agreements supporting the Central Asian country’s energy transition were penned. Sovereign Wealth Fund Samruk-Kazyna JSC (SK) and Eni signed a memorandum of understanding for several projects including exploring the possibility of building more hybrid power plants in different parts of Kazakhstan. The deal also involves “the assessment of mineral initiatives and the development of other carbon emission reduction technologies”, Eni said.
An SK portfolio company, NC QazaqGaz JSC, also signed with Eni an agreement “focused on the exchange of experience among scientific, technical and research centers to develop technological innovations and human capital, with the aim of reducing carbon emissions in gas industry operations”, Eni added. Eni has 150 MW in declared installed renewable energy capacity in Kazakhstan.
Last year it inaugurated its first solar plant project in the country, a 50 MW photovoltaic facility catering to the Turkistan region. The project is designed to produce up to 90 gigawatt hours (gWh) of electricity annually with 93,000 panels and an electrical substation, according to operator Eni Plenitude Wind & Energy SRL. It will rise on 100 hectares of land in the village of Shaulder and will have a 4.66 powerline for integration into the national grid. “The construction of the Shaulder photovoltaic farm represents the first important step for Plenitude in the solar energy sector in Kazakhstan”, Stefano Goberti, chief executive of Eni renewables arm Plenitude, said in a statement September 27, 2023. “The plant will contribute to the development of Turkistan Region by making available to the local territory the most advanced technologies in this field”. In 2022 Eni inaugurated its second wind farm in Kazakhstan with a 48 MW capacity, located in Aktobe region. “To date the wind turbines of Badamsha II are the largest installed in Kazakhstan, both in terms of size (rotor diameter 158 meters, hub 101 meters) and power (4.8 MW each) and are expected to deliver an annual energy generation up to 200 GWh, which is equivalent to the energy consumption of around 37,000 households, and an overall CO2 [carbon dioxide] saving of 173,000 tons per year”, Eni said in a statement March 2, 2022.
Eni’s first wind farm in the country, the 48-MW Badamsha I, was commissioned early 2020. Kazakhstan has set an unconditional target of curbing its greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2030 relative to 1990 levels. An auctioning mechanism it has implemented since 2018 “made it possible to reduce twice the tariffs for green energy”, Astana says on its National Determined Contribution (climate neutrality target), deposited before the United Nations June 27, 2023. Eni meanwhile targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Source: rigzone.com