Coal power plant in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan. Approximate location 47.7853, 67.7444.
CoalQaraghandyKazakhstanSiemens Energy: not foundsubcritical
Zhezkazgan power station is a 252 MW coal power station in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan. It is operated by Kazakhmys plc. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 315k homes (estimated). It ranks #48 of 80 Kazakhstan power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1975, it is around 51 years old — an older, legacy facility. 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 WRI1023217.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000102983); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 252 MW, Zhezkazgan power station is below the median coal plant in Kazakhstan (435 MW). Technically it is described as Siemens Energy: not found; 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.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Kazakhmys plc.
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 47.8°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 104% 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: 94/100 — 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.
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 #24 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 47.7853, 67.7444 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Zhezkazgan power station is a 252 MW source-record coal power plant in Qaraghandy, Kazakhstan, commissioned in 1975.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 315,360 homes (estimated).
Zhezkazgan power station is operated by Kazakhmys plc.
