Green energy in grey areas: The financial and policy challenges of Kazakhstan's energy transition

IF 6.9 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Energy Research & Social Science Pub Date : 2025-03-31 DOI:10.1016/j.erss.2025.104046

Nurkhat Zhakiyev , Dana Burkhanova , Anel Nurkanat , Shynar Zhussipkaliyeva , Ainur Sospanova , Ayagoz Khamzina

{"title":"Green energy in grey areas: The financial and policy challenges of Kazakhstan's energy transition","authors":"Nurkhat Zhakiyev , Dana Burkhanova , Anel Nurkanat , Shynar Zhussipkaliyeva , Ainur Sospanova , Ayagoz Khamzina","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2025.104046","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Renewable energy development in Kazakhstan faces significant challenges, including outdated infrastructure, underdeveloped local production, and regulatory uncertainties. Despite the government's efforts to promote green finance policies, systemic barriers persist across financial, technological, policy, and social dimensions. This study aims to a) identify and categorize the principal barriers and risks, b) assess and rank these barriers from multiple expert perspectives, and c) propose strategic policy measures to facilitate sustainable growth in the country's renewable energy sector.</div><div>A mixed-method approach was employed, combining semi-structured expert interviews and an expert panel survey. The findings from the interviews informed the survey design, ensuring relevance. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used to compare expert perceptions across different experience levels and sectors.</div><div>The analysis revealed five major barriers - low tariffs for fossil-fuel electricity, underdeveloped local production, outdated infrastructure, limited experience in localization, and lack of public interest in energy-efficient technologies. Experts' perspectives varied by experience level: early-career professionals focused on micro-level issues: local production and public awareness, while senior experts emphasized macro-level challenges such as inadequate integration planning. Sector-specific assessments further highlighted technology and regulatory gaps. A risk heatmap showcased regulatory uncertainty, technological lag, and high capital expenditures as the most pressing concerns for investors. The findings reveal the need for comprehensive policy reforms, including clear strategic roadmaps, government-backed financial instruments, and stronger alignment of stakeholders to mitigate market and operational risks.</div><div>The findings provide valuable insights for other fossil-fuel-dependent economies facing similar challenges in transitioning to renewable energy, using Kazakhstan's experience as an important reference point.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":"124 ","pages":"Article 104046"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy Research & Social Science","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629625001276","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Renewable energy development in Kazakhstan faces significant challenges, including outdated infrastructure, underdeveloped local production, and regulatory uncertainties. Despite the government's efforts to promote green finance policies, systemic barriers persist across financial, technological, policy, and social dimensions. This study aims to a) identify and categorize the principal barriers and risks, b) assess and rank these barriers from multiple expert perspectives, and c) propose strategic policy measures to facilitate sustainable growth in the country's renewable energy sector.

A mixed-method approach was employed, combining semi-structured expert interviews and an expert panel survey. The findings from the interviews informed the survey design, ensuring relevance. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used to compare expert perceptions across different experience levels and sectors.

The analysis revealed five major barriers - low tariffs for fossil-fuel electricity, underdeveloped local production, outdated infrastructure, limited experience in localization, and lack of public interest in energy-efficient technologies. Experts' perspectives varied by experience level: early-career professionals focused on micro-level issues: local production and public awareness, while senior experts emphasized macro-level challenges such as inadequate integration planning. Sector-specific assessments further highlighted technology and regulatory gaps. A risk heatmap showcased regulatory uncertainty, technological lag, and high capital expenditures as the most pressing concerns for investors. The findings reveal the need for comprehensive policy reforms, including clear strategic roadmaps, government-backed financial instruments, and stronger alignment of stakeholders to mitigate market and operational risks.

The findings provide valuable insights for other fossil-fuel-dependent economies facing similar challenges in transitioning to renewable energy, using Kazakhstan's experience as an important reference point.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Energy Research & Social Science ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES-

CiteScore

14.00

自引率

16.40%

发文量

441

审稿时长

55 days

期刊介绍： Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers. Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.