Coal power plant in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Approximate location 45.207419, 73.957572.
CoalAlmatyKazakhstansupercritical
Balkhash Ulken power station is a 1,320 MW coal power station in Almaty, Kazakhstan. It is operated by Balkhash TPP JSC [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 1.7 million homes (estimated). It ranks #6 of 80 Kazakhstan power plants by installed capacity. In context, coal supplies about 54.3% of Kazakhstan's electricity; 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_coa_balkhashulken_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 GCPT; fuel: GEM GCPT
At 1,320 MW, Balkhash Ulken power station is well above the median coal plant in Kazakhstan (435 MW). Technically it is described as supercritical. Coal plants burn pulverised coal to raise high-pressure steam for a turbine; they run as baseload but are the most carbon-intensive mainstream source and the first targeted for retirement or efficiency retrofits.
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 Balkhash TPP JSC [100%].
This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a cold semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSk) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 45.2°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 #3 largest coal power plant of 32 in Kazakhstan by capacity.
Kazakhstan has 32 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 20,941 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 45.207419, 73.957572 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Balkhash Ulken power station is a 1,320 MW coal power plant in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 1,651,885 homes (estimated).
Balkhash Ulken power station is operated by Balkhash TPP JSC [100%].
