Italian oil firm Eni has commissioned its first wind farm, the 48 MW Badamsha project in Kazakhstan.
The company announced that its local subsidiary, ArmWind, has started commercial operations at the Badamsha site in Aktobe region, which features 13 GE 3.8-130 onshore wind turbines with a hub height of 85 m, 3.8MW of power and a 130 m rotor diameter.
The project represents Eni’s first large-scale investment in wind, and is also the first step in “an extensive renewable presence” in Kazakhstan, it said. It is also the product of a memorandum of understanding signed with its project partner, GE, and the Kazakh government, to promote renewable energy investment in the country.
It is planning to develop a further 48 MW of onshore wind capacity at the Badamsha project as well as a 50 MW solar photovoltaic project in Turkestan region after winning contracts in a 2019 renewables auction.
Eni is targeting development of over 3 GW of wind and solar capacity by 2023 and up to 5 GW by 2025.
