Rosatom Signs EPC Contract for Balkhash Nuclear Power Plant

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 3, Rosatom and Kazakhstan Nuclear Power Plants LLP (KNPP) signed the EPC contract for the Balkhash Nuclear Power Plant during the Eastern Economic Forum. The project is located near the village of Ulken in the Zhambyl District of the Almaty Region, Kazakhstan, and will feature two VVER-1200 Generation III+ pressurized water reactors, each with an electrical output of 1,200 MW, for a total installed electrical capacity of 2,400 MW. Andrey Petrov, First Deputy Director General of Rosatom and President of Atomstroyexport, and Ernat Berdigulov, General Director of KNPP, signed the contract on behalf of their respective parties.

Under the contract, Rosatom, as the lead party of the international consortium for the project, will undertake EPC work for the Balkhash Nuclear Power Plant, including engineering design, equipment procurement, construction, commissioning, and handover of completed facilities. The project will subsequently proceed with detailed design and organize the supply of relevant equipment in accordance with the construction schedule.

The Balkhash Nuclear Power Plant will adopt VVER-1200 Generation III+ pressurized water reactor technology. Each unit of this reactor type has an electrical output of 1,200 MW, a design service life of 60 years, which can be extended by a further 20 years. VVER-1200 reactors are currently deployed in operating or under-construction nuclear power projects in Russia, as well as in Belarus, Türkiye, Bangladesh, Hungary, Egypt, and China.

Site engineering surveys for the project commenced in August 2025. To date, over 60 boreholes have been completed, with a maximum drilling depth of 120 meters, and geotechnical samples have been collected for laboratory analysis to determine the specific locations for the two nuclear units. The site engineering surveys are scheduled for completion in 2027, and the results will be used to prepare the documentation for the nuclear power plant construction license application. According to the project schedule announced by both parties on September 3, the construction license is planned to be obtained in 2027, followed by the start of main construction of the nuclear power plant.

In June 2025, Rosatom was designated as the lead party of the international consortium for Kazakhstan's first large-scale nuclear power plant project, following which both parties developed a roadmap for engineering surveys, preparation of project documentation, and signing of the EPC contract. On May 28, 2026, the governments of Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the fundamental principles and conditions of cooperation for the construction of the nuclear power plant, covering the main technical parameters of the project, maintenance during the plant's operational period, and nuclear fuel supply. The parties subsequently also signed arrangements for export loan financing of the project.

Preliminary estimates previously released by Kazakhstan indicate that the construction cost of the two nuclear units is approximately $14.4 billion, with an additional approximately $2 billion planned for physical security systems and related social infrastructure. The EPC contract signed on September 3 has not yet disclosed the specific contract value, the procurement amount for major equipment, or the list of other members of the international consortium. The first unit of the project was previously planned to be commissioned around 2034.