Kazakhstan wind farm: The EBRD and the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) will finance the construction, connection to the power transmission grid, commissioning and launch of a greenfield 50 MW wind power plant located at Yereymentau, in central Kazakhstan. The equivalent of €59.2m is to be funnelled through Wind Power Yereymentau, a special-purpose vehicle incorporated in Kazakhstan, while a further €18 million of concessional financing will be provided by the CTF. This will be Kazakhstan’s first large-scale wind power plant and is expected to offset 120,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum, in a country where over 70% electricity is generated by coal-fired power plants. Kazakhstan is seen as the Central Asian country with the greatest potential for the development of both wind and photovoltaic energy investments; about 50% off Kazakhstan’s territory has an estimated average wind speed of about 4-5 m/s at a height of 30 m above the ground. The country’s overall wind potential is estimated to be around 18,000 GWh per year. Up till now, renewable energy in Kazakhstan has been confined to a few hydropower plants that were mostly built in the Soviet era. AKI Press