TotalEnergies is seeking finance of up to $250m from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support the development and construction of its 1GW Mirny onshore wind farm in Kazakhstan.
The developer and its project partners – NC KazMunayGas JSC and NWF Samruk-Kazyna JSC – plan to install around 140 turbines as well as a 300MW/600MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in the Zhambyl region in southeast Kazakhstan.
The project also includes the construction of transmission infrastructure to evacuate the energy from the facility, including three 500-kV overhead transmission lines of 231km length and the upgrade of the existing 500-kV Shu and Yukgress substations.
The EBRD, which has reviewed the application for the senior secured loan, says the project “is expected to result in significant environmental benefits through introduction of 1GW of new wind renewable energy capacity corresponding to yearly reduction of 2.48 million tonnes of CO2 emissions”.
Information published by TotalEnergies and the EBRD show that the developer intends to install a mixture of Sany and Envision turbine units rated at between 6.5MW and 7.7MW, while SAFT will supply the battery.
In June 2023 Total Energies signed a power purchase agreement under which all the electricity produced by the Mirny project will be sold to the Financial Settlement Center of Renewable Energy, a public entity owned by the government of Kazakhstan.
TotalEnergies says that the project represents “a real technical challenge” because of its size, the region’s extreme weather conditions, and its distance from the electricity grid.
First power is scheduled for 2028.