Kyrgyzstan to get its first wind farm – A greener life, a greener world

By Anders Lorenzen

The former Soviet state of Kyrgyzstan is to build the first-ever wind farm in the country.

The Central Asian country of just seven million people will construct the 100-megawatt (MW) wind farm, which is to be constructed by Rosatom Renewable Energy JSC.

The country that gained independence when the Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 is heavily reliant on energy imports. Despite significant mineral resources, none of those are energy-producing fossil fuels with hydroelectricity the biggest source of energy the country produces.

Untapped potential

In addition to hydroelectricity which is currently largely untapped with only 10% utilised the country is believed to have excellent renewable energy potential with very little investments in the abundant resources of wind and solar so far.

The wind farm is to be constructed in the village of Kok-Moinok, on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. Constructed is slated to begin in 2025 and to be completed within a year and operational in 2026.

Rosatom Renewable Energy JSC is the wind energy division of the state-owned Russian energy company, Rosatom which specialises in nuclear energy, but which in 2017 branched into wind power. The company has so far commissioned 1 gigawatt (GW) of wind power projects.

Grigory Nazarov, Director General of Rosatom Renewable Energy JSC “Today, on this site we are laying not just a capsule for the construction of the first wind farm, but the foundation of our close cooperation with the Kyrgyz Republic. I am grateful to the leadership of Kyrgyzstan and the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan for their support at the already passed stages of the project realization and I am sure that our cooperation will only strengthen.”

Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country, bordered by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China and Tajikistan.