New data centers in Kazakhstan must buy electricity from a single buyer

For data centers in the Pavlodar region, a separate tariff and a separate solution are envisaged: the facility will operate within a group of entities and consume electricity under a scheme linked to Samruk, Inbusiness.kz writes.

The gist in brief

• The Ministry of Energy believes that new data centers should buy electricity from the single purchaser; the document and timelines have not been named.
• For data centers in the Pavlodar region, a separate tariff and solution are being prepared: the facility will operate within a group of entities and consume electricity under a scheme linked to Samruk.
• Confirmed consumption of new data centers is 125 MW, and the "Data Center Valley" in Pavlodar could grow to 1 GW, but there are no agreements for a gigawatt yet.
• For Akashi Data Center in Astana, technical specifications for 87 MW from the 500 kV "Akmola" substation have been issued.

What the Ministry of Energy stated

According to Musin, the ministry's position regarding new data centers is as follows: "they must buy from the single purchaser." The single purchaser buys electricity from power plants in Kazakhstan and abroad and sells it to large consumers at an averaged price, and to supply organizations (RECs) at preferential prices. Industrial groups of entities with their own, cheaper generation are not included in this model.

For data centers in the Pavlodar region, according to the official, a tariff and a separate solution are envisaged. The facility will operate within a group of entities and consume electricity under a scheme linked to Samruk. The details of the scheme and the tariff were not disclosed. Inbusiness.kz suggests that this refers to the 125 MW Kazakhtelecom data center in Ekibastuz, but this has not been officially confirmed.

How much capacity is needed

The "Data Center Valley" in Pavlodar is being considered with a prospect of up to 1 GW, but there are no signed agreements for such capacity yet.

" If we talk about the 'Data Center Valley' in Pavlodar, which people talk about: it's a prospect of up to a gigawatt of consumption, but in fact today there is only 125 MW for which an agreement has actually been signed, that projects will be implemented there in the future. So far we don't see these projects, as they say, of a gigawatt. There's a lot of talk, talk everywhere, but in fact I don't yet see such directly concrete signed agreements that this gigawatt will happen,"- said Musin.

In Astana, for Akashi Data Center, technical specifications for 87 MW from the 500 kV "Akmola" substation have been issued. This was reported by KEGOC's press service; a working project is currently being prepared for the facility. The Ministry of Energy began studying data centers this year and is incorporating their volumes into the forecast balance, which is compiled together with KEGOC.

What is not in the report

The regulatory act under which data centers are obligated to buy electricity from the single purchaser, its duration, and the size of tariffs for data centers are not named. It is not disclosed under what conditions data centers can obtain exceptions or preferences.

What this means for Kazakhstan

The largest data center project in the country is the "Data Center Valley" in Ekibastuz, which Kazakhtelecom is building. The company is seeking capital for the project: total investment is estimated at $10 billion, capacity at no less than 300 MW with growth to 1 GW, and the first facilities are planned to be launched in early 2027. Kazakhtelecom is seeking capital through three channels: bonds on the AIFC platform, funds from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, and financing from international institutions. At the same time, Kazakhtelecom sold a 50% stake in the project operator KT-Telecom to a structure of Samruk-Kazyna Invest. The power supply of the "Data Center Valley" and tariffs are not mentioned in the material about this project, so it is not yet clear exactly how the project will purchase electricity.

The load of data centers on grids concerns not only Kazakhstan. The state of New York introduced a one-year moratorium on the construction of data centers with an electrical load of 50 MW or more: authorities cite rising electricity bills, noise, and strain on water. The moratorium will be lifted after unified standards on noise, water consumption, and grid load are approved. Kazakhstan is taking a different path: for now, it is discussing where data centers will buy electricity, not a ban.

Author's conclusion

For now, this is the ministry's stated position rather than a document: where exactly the norm is enshrined and from what date it applies is unknown. The separate scheme for the Pavlodar region shows that there are no uniform rules for all data centers. It is worth watching for the appearance of the regulatory act, the tariff for the Pavlodar data center, and agreements for the "Data Center Valley."