China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), which previously secured the contract to lead construction of Kazakhstan’s second NPP, will now also lead the construction of a third facility, according to First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar.
In October 2024, a national referendum voted in favour of nuclear energy development after which President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the need to construct at least two, and ideally three, NPPs. Rosatom, CNNC, South Korea’s KHNP and France’s EDF had been shortlisted as possible suppliers. In June 2025, Russia’s Rosatom was selected to build the first plant near the village of Ulken, on the western shore of Lake Balkhash, approximately 400 kilometres northwest of Almaty.
CNNC was announced as the lead builder for the second facility. Potential locations for this project include Kurchatov, near the former Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in eastern Kazakhstan, and Aktau, the former site of the Soviet-era BN-350 fast neutron reactor in the west. “The third nuclear power plant will also be built by China,” Sklyar told a press briefing.
Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency and Kazakhstan Atomic Power Plants are currently evaluating potential sites for the second and third nuclear plants. “Work is underway, and I believe the locations will be announced later this year,” Sklyar said. “Each plant requires a permanent source of water and electricity, and the exact districts must be carefully selected.”
Meanwhile, negotiations on the intergovernmental agreement for the first plant are ongoing with Russian officials. “Once finalised, the agreement will be submitted to parliament for ratification,” Sklyar said. The first nuclear power plant is to have two units with a combined capacity of 2.4 GWe and is expected to be operational by 2035. The project is intended to help offset Kazakhstan’s growing electricity deficit. To meet its energy needs, Kazakhstan currently imports electricity primarily from Russia and recently signed an agreement with Tajikistan to purchase additional power from the Rogun Hydroelectric Power Plant.
