More than 115 countries committed this Saturday at COP28 in Dubai to tripling global renewable energy capacities by the end of the decade. Illustration, at the same time, Kazakhstan announced its intention to build wind power sites.
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In Dubai, a majority of countries have set the objective of increasing global production of green energies from 3,400 to 11,000 GigaWatt by the end of the decade. The Astana projects represent 3 GigaWatt, which is to say a modest contribution to this objective, but after all the declaration underlined that each country would make efforts commensurate with its capabilities.
Read alsoRenewable, nuclear and carbon energies: commitments in all directions at COP28
To build its wind turbines, Kazakhstan will rely on the French oil group Total Énergies, and two companies specializing in clean energies… from the Gulf, including an Emirati company founded by Sultan al-Jaber the boss of COP28 and the oil group ADNOC. The Total Énergies group is already present in the country where it exploits with others the important Kachagan deposit on the Caspian Sea.
It is at the beginning of November, during the visit of President Macron (after his Minister of Foreign Trade in June), that the joint venture was created for the construction of a wind farm with a capacity of one gigawatt. In terms of economic sovereignty, renewables are a key sector for Kazakhstan in order to depend less on Russia and to meet its electricity needs.
Kazakh uranium is highly sought after
President Tokayev made the trip to Dubai, and it did not escape him that, earlier on Saturday, around twenty countries had committed to triple the world’s nuclear capabilitiesbut Kazakshtan represents 43% of world reserves ofuranium and is the world number one in extraction with 40% of production. “ We are ready to become the leading supplier of transition minerals » assured the Kazakh leader from the podium. The Central Asian republic also supplies France with most of its radioactive metal needs.
Read alsoUranium: Kazakhstan, an alternative to Russian influence?
The issue is not only economic: Kazakhstan is at the heart of a region particularly exposed to global warming, desertification and lack of water. So it’s also a question of survival.