Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, a global clean energy leader, today formally broke ground on its 1-gigawatt (GW) wind farm in the Zhambyl region of Kazakhstan.
According to Masdar, the wind farm is Masdar’s first renewable energy development in Kazakhstan and one of the largest integrated wind and battery storage projects in Central Asia, representing investment of US$1.4 billion.
It features a 600-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system (BESS) to support grid stability. The project is being led by Masdar, and co-developed with W Solar, Qazaq Green Power, a Samruk-Kazyna Fund company, and the Kazakhstan Investment Development Fund.
The milestone ceremony was attended by senior government officials and representatives from the UAE and Kazakhstan, highlighting the strong partnership between the two nations in advancing sustainable development and clean energy deployment.
Once completed, the project will generate enough clean electricity to power approximately 880,000 homes in southern Kazakhstan, while avoiding around 2.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. In addition, the project will enhance grid infrastructure in southern Kazakhstan through the construction of more than 400 km of overhead transmission lines.
Masdar also signed a roadmap agreement with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development to advance Kazakhstan’s first Round-the-Clock (RTC) clean energy project, capable of providing utility-scale clean energy 24/7. Aligned with the country’s AI ambitions, the proposed initial phase will provide up to 200MW of baseload power for data centres and AI infrastructure. The roadmap agreement provides the foundation for the project’s development, including site identification, technical assessment, and stakeholder alignment.
The proposed Kazakhstan RTC project builds on Masdar’s leadership in round-the-clock renewable energy solutions. In October 2025 the company broke ground in Abu Dhabi on its first 24/7 gigascale solar and battery storage project. The project will feature a 5.2GW (DC) solar photovoltaic (PV) plant, coupled with a 19-gigawatt-hour (GWh) BESS to deliver up to 1GW baseload power every day, the largest combined solar and BESS project in the world.
The projects will support Kazakhstan in achieving its clean energy objectives, and strengthen Masdar’s footprint in Central Asia, where it is already present in several countries. They will also contribute to the company’s target of reaching 100GW of global portfolio capacity by 2030.
Kazakhstan has set ambitious targets to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix, with a goal of reaching 15 percent electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. The Zhambyl project will play a key role in supporting these objectives, while strengthening Kazakhstan’s long-term growth, energy security and sustainable economic development.
