Nuclear power plant in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Approximate location 46.859266, 74.9729668.
NuclearKaragandaKazakhstanAnnounced
Balkhash nuclear power plant is a 4,800 MW nuclear power station in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. It is operated by Ministry Of Energy (the Republic Of Kazakhstan). Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 11 million homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 80 Kazakhstan power plants by installed capacity. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, the national grid averages 805 gCO₂/kWh (14.9% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GEM_nuc_balkhash_kazak.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and fuel fields on this page are source-record values from the upstream open dataset. They are useful for identification and ranking, but they have not been upgraded to a 2026 registry/GEM-location verified value.
capacity: GEM GNPT; fuel: GEM GNPT
Its current lifecycle status is “Announced” — so it is not yet, or no longer, generating at full output. Nuclear plants split uranium to raise steam with no direct CO₂; they run as steady baseload with very high capacity factors and the longest operating lifetimes of any thermal plant.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Ministry Of Energy (the Republic Of Kazakhstan).
This nuclear plant uses heat from nuclear fission to raise steam for a turbine-generator. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 46.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest nuclear power plant of 4 in Kazakhstan by capacity.
Kazakhstan has 4 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 9,690 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 46.859266, 74.9729668 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Balkhash nuclear power plant is a 4,800 MW nuclear power plant in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 10,812,342 homes (estimated).
Balkhash nuclear power plant is operated by Ministry Of Energy (the Republic Of Kazakhstan).
