Nuclear Power Could Cost Kazakhstanis Up to $0.19 per kWh, Expert Says

Expert Olzhas Baideldinov has estimated the potential cost of electricity from Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant based on an analysis of the project’s debt burden, Orda.kz reports.

According to his calculations, the project’s debt burden will have a key effect on the tariff. With the estimated cost of the plant at about $15 billion and borrowing covering 85% of that amount, or about $12.75 billion, annual payments could reach $1.47 billion even at an interest rate of 10%. If the rate is closer to current borrowing conditions in Russia, at about 14–15%, the annual burden would rise to nearly $1.9 billion, while total interest over the life of the loan could reach $25 billion.

With annual generation at the level of 16–18 billion kWh, debt servicing alone would create a cost of about 45–60 tenge per kWh. Taking into account operating expenses and electricity transmission, the final price for consumers could rise by another 30–50%, reaching 60–90 tenge.

At the same time, the expert notes that after the loans are repaid, the cost of electricity from the nuclear plant could fall significantly, since only operating expenses would largely remain.

Against the backdrop of plans to build several plants and modernize the power system, with total investment estimated at up to 14 trillion tenge, the expert says electricity bills in Kazakhstan could increase by 2.5 to three times from current levels in the coming years.

Original author: Alexander Zhdanov

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