Kazakhstan to spend $14 million on HVAC upgrades
Published on 10/08/2016
The Kazakh city of Oskemen has secured international finance to overhaul its municipal heating and hot water systems. 5 billion tenge ($14 million), 3 billion from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, will be spent on pumping stations, automation equipment, and hot water piping technology.
The Bank's participation in the project came about after a visit to the Kazakh capital Astana by Suma Chakrabati, the president of the EBRD. Oskemen, often known by its Russian-language name of Ust-Kamenogorsk, is one of 12 cities in Kazakhstan to receive funding from the programme, which is a joint funding venture between the EBRD and Kazakhstan's government.
The work will include full-scale repair and new construction of pipes and infrastructure for municipal heat and hot water supply, and buying new equipment to lay and repair utilities infrastructure. The emphasis is firmly on new products - the aim is to cut heat losses and improve energy efficiency. This will be done by new automation systems and more efficient pumping stations.
The Oskemen upgrade is just the beginning of the spending on better HVAC equipment for the region by the EBRD and Kazakhstan's government. "Our negotiations with the bank means we have already signed agreements worth 28 billion tenge. I hope that some new projects will be put in place in the near future," said Danial Akhmetov, akim (mayor) of the East Kazakhstan region where Oskemen is located. Previous EBRD funding has made its way to the region to modernise the municipal water company and improve supply to residents, with 600,000 people benefiting from the work.
This spending on heat supply upgrades mirrors a strong rise in housebuilding in Kazakhstan. The latest government figures show a 17% increase in houses completed in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period in the previous year. This increase is spread healthily around the country rather than just being concentrated in the two major cities of Astana and Almaty. New houses mean more heat and energy usage - so this spending programme has come at the right time.
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