Kazakhmys Balkhash power station — Kazakhstan

Kazakhmys Balkhash power station is a 120 MW coal power station in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan. It is operated by Kazakhmys plc. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 150k homes (estimated). It ranks #62 of 80 Kazakhstan power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1976, it is around 50 years old — long-established. 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 WRI1075834.

Capacity provenance

The public capacity above is the current source-record value. A 2026 tracker candidate lists 120 MW for Kazakhmys Balkhash power station, but it is not used as the public primary value until scope is verified (unit vs operating vs installed/project total).

Data provenance

Source of the capacity and fuel values:

capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000102993; fuel: WRI GPPD

In context: how this plant compares

At 120 MW, Kazakhmys Balkhash power station is below the median coal plant in Kazakhstan (435 MW). Technically it is described as subcritical. 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.

Key facts

Share of Kazakhstan coal capacity

0.6% of 20,941 MW across 32 plants in this dataset

Age among peers

12 of 27 dated coal plants in Kazakhstan are older

Calculated from the capacity and generation records in this dataset (WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0)).

Capacity vs largest coal plants in Kazakhstan

Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Kazakhmys plc.

Local climate & thermal context

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 46.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

Monthly mean temperature

Heating degree-days here run 96% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 93/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

Site climate & environmental severity

This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with thermal cycling the leading environmental stress.

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.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #28 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.

Nearby power plants

• Balkhash nuclear power plant · Nuclear · 4,800 MW · Karaganda
• Gulshat · Solar · 40 MW · Qaraghandy

Location

Coordinates 46.829, 74.9493 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

Frequently asked questions