From April 2025 through March 2026, fossil fuels supplied about 85% of Kazakhstan’s electricity, while low-carbon sources provided just under 15%. Coal alone accounted for more than half of electricity consumption, at about 54%, and gas supplied almost 30%. Among clean electricity sources, hydropower contributed about 8%, wind nearly 5%, and solar just under 2%. Kazakhstan’s electricity supply therefore remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels, leaving substantial scope for clean electricity growth to reduce climate-changing emissions and air pollution.

Is Electricity Growing in Kazakhstan?

Kazakhstan’s latest figures show a small advance in low-carbon electricity, but overall electricity consumption per person remains below its historical peak. In 2026, consumption reached about 5,900 kWh per person, roughly 194 kWh, or 3%, below the record of 6,105 kWh set in 1990. Low-carbon generation reached a new high of about 869 kWh per person, edging above the 2025 record of 862 kWh by around 8 kWh, using the supplied change figure. This modest clean electricity gain is welcome, but the long-standing gap below peak consumption per person is concerning. These per-person figures alone do not establish whether total national electricity consumption is growing.

Suggestions

Kazakhstan should accelerate solar and wind deployment while building nuclear generation to deliver a much larger clean electricity supply. Relevant examples include nearby Russia, where nuclear supplies about 19% of electricity, and Belarus, where it supplies 38%; France’s roughly two-thirds nuclear share demonstrates the scale this source can achieve. For solar, Kazakhstan can learn from sunny, dry regions such as the US state of Nevada, where solar generates 35% of electricity, and the US state of Arizona, where it supplies 19%. Its extensive open landscapes also make the US states of Kansas and North Dakota useful wind comparisons: wind supplies about 49% and 36% of their electricity, respectively. Learning from these regions’ deployment experience, alongside expanding transmission and storage, could help Kazakhstan grow clean electricity for industry, electrification, and emerging demand such as AI.

History

Kazakhstan’s recorded low-carbon electricity history was initially dominated by hydropower fluctuations. Hydro generation rose by a combined 2.3 TWh in 1987–1988 and another 2.3 TWh in 1993–1994, before falling by a combined 2.6 TWh during 1995–1997. Growth returned in 2000 and 2002, with gains totaling 2.2 TWh, followed by a 0.7 TWh decline in 2008. The 2010s brought substantial additions, including 1.1 TWh in 2010 and a combined 3.4 TWh in 2015–2016, although hydro fell by 0.8 TWh in 2018. Since 2020, growth has broadened: solar added 1 TWh in 2020, while wind added 0.7 TWh in 2021, 1.3 TWh in 2023, and 1.1 TWh in 2025. Hydro surged by 2.5 TWh in 2024 before declining by 0.8 TWh in 2025, reinforcing the importance of sustained growth across several clean electricity sources.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Apr 2025 – Mar 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.