At the suggestion of environmentalists from the Rivers Without Borders public fund, the possibility of producing “green” hydrogen at the facilities of hydroelectric power plants may be excluded from the concept of hydrogen energy development in Kazakhstan.
The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan will take into account the proposal of the public fund “Rivers Without Borders” on the inexpediency of producing “green” hydrogen at the facilities of hydroelectric power plants in the further revision of the draft Concept for the Development of Hydrogen Energy until 2040, according to the official letter of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
As environmentalists stated in their response to the draft Concept, energy-intensive hydrogen production in Kazakhstan is designed primarily to justify the construction of new energy capacities in the form of large hydroelectric power plants and nuclear power plants, which have a huge potential for a negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. However, environmentalists emphasize that the large hydropower plants required for the production of so-called “green” hydrogen cause severe and often irreversible disruption of critical ecosystems (for example, in Kazakhstan, according to recent calculations, most rivers are already dissected by dams), and also make water and energy systems more vulnerable to climate change.
“Given the fact that the construction of hydroelectric power plants is the most expensive type of renewable energy all over the world and is only becoming more expensive against the backdrop of high interest rates and inflation in prices for building materials, the construction of hydroelectric power plants for the production of green hydrogen can hardly be considered economically justified,” says Alexander Kolotov, Director of the Rivers Without Borders Foundation. “If existing hydroelectric power plants are used for the production of green hydrogen, then this will automatically deprive the energy system of Kazakhstan of maneuverable capacities, sharply reducing the energy security of the state.”
The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan thanked the environmentalists for their comments and clarified that today the ministry is working to create sustainable and competitive hydrogen energy, taking into account all promising ideas and proposals coming from stakeholders. “In this regard, the ministry will consider your proposal on the inexpediency of producing “green” hydrogen at the capacities of hydroelectric power plants in the further refinement of the draft Concept,” the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan noted.
