Kazakhstan

The European Union has set ambitious targets for solar PV expansion but is Brussels designing the right policies to support growth? Andreas Walstad investigates.

Three import deals signed by the EU at Sharm El Sheikh during this month’s COP27 summit show the European Union is serious about harnessing green hydrogen for its heavy industry, and about distributing the fruits of the energy transition on an equitable basis.

US scientists have reported efficient plasmonic photocatalysis for the production of hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide, with no external heat source. Egypt, meanwhile, has started commissioning Africa’s first integrated green hydrogen plant.

Researchers in Singapore have developed a new light-triggered coupled oxygen evolution mechanism that builds on past oxygen evolution research. Oman, meanwhile, has announced a new hydrogen strategy.

A unit of Svevind has signed an agreement to invest up to $50 billion in a project on the Caspian Sea that could produce up to 2 million tons of green hydrogen per year. Stellantis, meanwhile, has revealed plans to mass produce light commercial hydrogen vehicles.

Utility-scale solar is stirring in the region, with support from development banks. Following a series of competitive auctions, PV projects have been commissioned and are under development in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In the latter nation, corporate interest in distributed, small-scale renewables is growing but for further market uptake, additional incentives should be introduced, practitioners say.

The Kazakh authorities allocated 20 MW of PV capacity in the procurement exercise and said another 20 MW solar auction will be held next year.

This week sees hydrogen pricing hit new highs, driven by simultaneous jumps in the price of natural gas and electricity. Elsewhere, project plans include green hydrogen production at a UK brewery and Ineos building a 100 MW electrolyzer in Germany, machinery manufacturers Rolls Royce and JCB making plans for hydrogen engines, and new investment agreements signed in Belgium, Sweden and Kazakhstan.

The $18bn worth of sustainable finance instruments floated in the nation last year marked a retreat from previous highs but, with most of the bonds issued from July onwards, the recovery is under way, according to the IFC, which is anticipating a more-than-$100 billion sector in emerging markets over the next three years.

The latest set of clean energy statistics compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency signal a changing of the guard when it comes to clean power, with legacy hydropower facilities overtaken by new intermittent renewables.