BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 10. Kazakhstan has increased average funding for energy infrastructure repairs by 27% ahead of the 2026-2027 heating season, reducing equipment wear at power plants to 52%, the press service of the country’s government reports.
The figures were announced by Minister of Energy Yerlan Akkenzhenov, who reported on the readiness of the country's energy infrastructure for the autumn-winter period.
According to him, as part of the preparations, repairs were completed on eight power units, 49 boilers and 37 turbines at power plants. Regional electricity networks underwent repairs covering 17,100 kilometers of power lines and 444 substations. Work on 377 kilometers of heating networks was also completed.
"Funding for repair work has increased by an average of 27%. As a result, equipment wear at power plants has decreased to 52%, electricity networks to 65.7%, and heating networks to 48%. The number of technological disruptions has decreased by an average of 6% compared with last year," Akkenzhenov said.
The minister added that consumers are being supplied with electricity and heat, while technological disruptions are being addressed within the established timeframes. The heating season is proceeding as normal.
Notably, Kazakhstan's electricity system has to serve a vast territory with sharply different climatic conditions, connecting major cities, industrial centers and regional power systems across the country's steppe and semi-desert landscapes. The backbone of this network is the Unified Power System, whose national grid includes nearly 28,000 kilometers of overhead transmission lines and 83 substations. These high-voltage routes carry electricity from power plants to major consumers and link the northern, southern and western parts of the country, as well as neighboring power systems.
Kazakhstan’s electricity generation is concentrated in the north and northeast, where major coal deposits, including the Ekibastuz basin in Pavlodar Region, supply large thermal power plants. The south, with its major cities, industrial facilities and agricultural consumers, has a smaller generation base and therefore relies partly on electricity transmitted from the north through high-voltage power lines. The country’s energy mix is dominated by thermal power plants. Hydropower, large-scale wind and solar facilities, and rooftop solar installations account for much of the remaining output.
The reliability of this infrastructure becomes especially important during winter, when prolonged sub-zero temperatures drive up demand for both electricity and district heating. Kazakhstan has an extremely continental climate: winters in the north and east are long and severe, with temperatures in some areas falling below -40°C, while southern regions generally experience milder conditions. The difference is also reflected in the length of the heating season, which ranges from around 151 days in the south to as many as 222 days in the north. At the same time, ageing power generation equipment, electricity networks and heating pipelines remain a challenge for the sector.
