Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlуbek Naliбаev and East Kazakhstan Region head Nurymbet Saktaganov visited the Bukhtarma hydropower complex. They toured the station’s production facilities and reviewed equipment upgrades and development plans.
The complex supplies electricity to several Kazzinc enterprises and settlements in the region. Construction of the hydropower plant began in 1953, and its first hydro unit was commissioned in August 1960.
The plant now operates nine hydro units, each with a capacity of 75 MW, giving it an installed capacity of 675 MW. The dam is 380 metres long and 90 metres high and is designed to withstand seismic activity of up to eight points.
The station generated 3 billion kWh of electricity in 2025, 30% above its planned output. Kazzinc invested 21.4 billion tenge in upgrading main and auxiliary equipment. The plant replaced hydro-unit runner wheels and main power transformers, and commissioned a new 220 kV gas-insulated switchgear unit.
A project to replace the stator windings of the hydrogenerators is also under way. The work has increased the station’s installed capacity by 45 MW. A digital control panel installed in 2019 monitors operating parameters and adjusts the output of the hydro units.
The complex is currently installing next-generation high-voltage circuit breakers. Plans include introducing an automated system to monitor and diagnose the condition of hydraulic structures and continuing to modernise the hydrogenerators.
As part of Kazzinc’s environmental programme, fish are released into water bodies in the region every year. More than 136,000 carp fry were released into the Bukhtarma Reservoir this year. About 200 people work at the complex.
Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prime Minister instructed Kazzinc’s management to modernise the Bukhtarma hydropower plant and raise employees’ salaries.
