KAZ/02/M08/NP/71“Renewable Energy Use for Potable
Water Supply in Remote Villages of Depressed Region
in Kazakhstan”
PILOT PROJECT
Tokabay Village - Aral Sea Region
Concept Paper - Lessons Learnt and Future Replications
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Kazakhstan 2004
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Pilot Hybrid System in Tokabay Village/Aralsk Rayon/Kyzlerda Oblast
Kazakhstan
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Executive Summary ................................................................................... 4
1- Objective ................................................................................................ 5
2- Narrative Summary of the Pilot Project................................................ 5
2.1 Tokabay Village Infrastructure ................................................................................. 5
2.2 The Installed Pilot Hybrid System ............................................................................ 6
2.3 Setting up a Hybrid System ..................................................................................... 6
2.4 Renewable Energy Resources Assessment ............................................................ 6
2.5 Selection of the Appropriate Autonomous System................................................... 7
2.6 Renewable Energy Data Loggers ............................................................................ 7
2.7 Redesign of the System ........................................................................................... 8
3- Operation and Maintenance .................................................................. 8
3.1 Hybrid System ......................................................................................................... 8
3.2 Water User Association ........................................................................................... 9
4- Conclusion ........................................................................................... 10
5- Future Funding Strategy ..................................................................... 11
5.1 Specific activities and state support required ......................................................... 11
6- Potential of Renewable Energy in Kazakhstan .................................. 12
6.1 Solar and Wind Energy’s Reliability ....................................................................... 12
6.2 Energy Supply Situation in the Rural Areas ........................................................... 12
Annex (1) .................................................................................................. 13
Itinerary........................................................................................................................ 13
Annex (2) .................................................................................................. 14
Implementation Team .................................................................................................. 14
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Executive Summary
The combination of different technologies to build and design the Hybrid system, are seen as a
very positive experience which should be considered elsewhere in similar circumstances. The
overall performance of this pilot project has more encouraging lessons that can be drawn from
the previous 20 months. While this report does identify different learning experiences, it does not
develop these into lessons of how they could be used in the future, especially, in the absence of
active involvement of local village and rayon authorities in supporting the NGO’s efforts for
operating and maintenance challenges.
The concept paper also highlights possible opportunities for national strategic investment in
remote village development with support of donor communities and that require further due
diligence to determine its feasibility. It is a long road map assessment. The development of these
technologies (combination of wind/solar and desalination unit) requires expertise drawn from a
range of disciplines and research in fields that are still emerging for.
Infrastructure at the pilot area, Tokabay village was up to the demands of this assignment: in the
village, there is no water distribution system but a few shallow wells located around the village.
Electricity distribution system in working condition and the village is supplied from the grid system
on a regular basis at 10 kV being transformed to 230/400 V.
For this pilot project, different hybrid system design methods, as well as, well developed
dimensioning tools have been demonstrated successfully. Taking into consideration the social,
environmental and economic advantages of hybrid systems, the sustainable operation of such
systems consist the main target of their extended replicability.
As it concerns the installation and maintenance of small-scale hybrid systems (wind/solar/
desalination units) in remote areas in Kazakhstan, a long way has to be traced before considered
sustainable. While the installation of this pilot hybrid system is considered very successful, at
least for the time being, the risk factor for the system are surcharged by the well-known lack of
required market infrastructure in remote areas of that part of Kazakhstan (Aralsk and Kazalinisk
Rayon).
Before any extended use of these systems, consideration must be given to; (1) the replication of
such small scale installations which will ensure the compatibility and the reliability of the systems,
(2) the on-the-job training of local staff in the operation and maintenance of such systems,(3)
development of local market of spare parts and materials, which could support the continuous
operations of such systems and (4) continuous support of local and central authorities in
supporting the local communities by economic incentives and technical assistance.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
1- Objective
The concept paper represent possible opportunities for strategic investment in Remote Village
Development and will require further due diligence to determine its feasibility. The main task of the pilot
project was to use and develop the resources of existing solar and wind under purpose of to
resolve the electrical demand of remote communities and rural users in powering of their water
installation equipments, as pumps and desalinating units by means of renewable energy.
During the past few years hybrid systems have gained the attention of the engineers, designers
and decision makers due to the uncontested benefits that they provide while used in "island
operation" for autonomous power production. Usually, the electrification of isolated rural areas
with hybrid systems stimulate favorable economic impact through the exploitation of local
resources and thus reducing the import dependence, as well as favoring the local manufacturing
of simple components. Additionally, the extended use of hybrid systems induces social impacts,
such as the improvement of the living standards, along with environmental friendly solutions.
In the long run, it is anticipated an active development of small industry establishment that will be
developed to produce equipments for renewable energy generation: developing the new
technology/new design, field testing them, setting-up small scale factory on the results of the
investigation and developing natural program of “Renewable Energy” to submit to the
Government and actively be involved in implementing phases.
2- Narrative Summary of the Pilot Project
2.1 Tokabay Village Infrastructure
Tokabay village is situated in an extremely arid zone, with a low average annual precipitation of
135 mm. The village is 50 km from the town of Aralsk, which is located in the northern part
Kazakhstan, 100 km from the current shore of the Aral Sea, in the semi-desert part of the
Southern Kazakhstan. This region of the country is one of the most economically depressed
regions in Kazakhstan. The village has nearly 1000 residents living in 140 households all of
which are homogenously Kazakhs. While the village experiences extreme temperatures usually
range between 31oC and -18oC, however the wind and solar potential were imminent. The
village was up to demands of this assignment: There is no water distribution system but a few
shallow wells located around the village. There are deep underground water deposits with limited
surface exposure. Electricity distribution system in working condition and the village is supplied
from the Grid system on a regular basis at 10 kV being transformed to 230/400 V. Further the
village was selected for this project from a number of villages in the Aralsk region after
consideration of a number of hydro-geological, climatic and environmental factors.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
2.2 The Installed Pilot Hybrid System
Detail description of the technical parts of the pilot hybrid system was published in a separate
document “System Description and Guidelines for Hybrid Autonomous Solar-Wind Systems
Development” put together by local project staff (Project Manager and Local Consultant in close
cooperation with main Contractor and suppliers of different components of the installed hybrid
system).
2.3 Setting up a Hybrid System
In theory, having no technical barriers in the way, the following factors are taken into
consideration prior to set up new hybrid system:

The wind and solar potential of the respective region
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The economic feasibility of the project (in most cases those projects are not feasible
without a third party subsidy/ local authorities )
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The environmental and social impact that might be occurred
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The institutional barriers (including the lack of essential coherent regulations) which
must be overcome for the sustainability of the operation
The awareness of the end-users
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Numerous calculations and estimations should be carried out before setting up a hybrid system in
order to secure the systems' maximum availability and security of supply.
Critical point for the dimensioning of the system is the estimation of the demand load of the
complex which will be electrified. Even as it sounds as a standard and typical procedure, most of
the times the assessment of the time-based load profile could be revealed inaccurate without an
assumption of possible demand increment.
The proposed system for the pilot project went through incremental design faces as we called
"building-by-building basis" load estimation. Yet, it is common that the estimated consumption will
rise during the first period of operation fact that enforces an over-dimensioning of the system. In
addition, auxiliary future installations such as water desalination or sewage plants should not be
excluded from the estimations.
2.4 Renewable Energy Resources Assessment
More specifically for wind/solar hybrid systems the assessment is focused on the wind and solar
potential of the region. Wind Turbines (WT) present several operation difficulties in small and
medium sizes (less than 50kW) related to the fluctuation of the wind velocity. Therefore, the
assessment of the wind potential gives the guidelines for the proper design of the system. Due to
the modularity that the Photo Voltaic arrays (PV) present, the estimation of the solar energy
potential does not play critical role in dimensioning but characterizes the overall capacity of the
system. The potential of the region can easily be estimated using data sensors (loggers)
combined with modern data acquisition systems and software tools for data processing. These to
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
be carried out systematically in different pin pointed villages to gain the overall potentiality of the
wind/solar characteristics of the region prior to any replication of similar hybrid systems
2.5 Selection of the Appropriate Autonomous System
The final decision about the appropriate electricity supply system for the remote villages should
be based upon the assessment of each option with respect to a set of decision criteria. For this
pilot project study, the following criteria have been adopted for the evaluation of the various
alternative options:

Use of renewable energy sources; which is easily quantifiable using the percentage of load
coverage by wind or solar energy.

System simplicity and reliability; This criterion is more difficult to quantify and is related
to a variety of factors, including previous performance of a specific technology in a related
environment, local experience into a specific technology etc.

Organisational; This criterion has to do with the overall electricity supply structure within
the respective regions. Addresses a variety of socio-economic issues, such as which
organizational entity undertakes overall responsibility for the system, how easy it is to
implement a specific electrification scheme, tariff system, financing opportunities, etc.

Economic cost; Namely, initial investment cost, operation and maintenance cost.
It is worth to be mentioned that since autonomous systems comprise an already
established alternative for isolated power production there are several developed tools for
dimensioning these systems. Complying with this, the scope of this paper is not to provide
guidelines for the implementation of wind/solar hybrid systems but to present the possible
problems which can occur during the commissioning phase, the steady operation period
and maintenance procedure.

The lack of Normalization and Standardization; Regarding the small and medium scale
This standard is related to the design, installation, operation and maintenance
conditions of wind turbines with a rotor area smaller than 40m2 but it is unknown if it is
incorporated to any coherent national legislation.

Secure and reliable; Operation and maintenance of a stand-alone system.
2.6 Renewable Energy Data Loggers
The installation of different weather measurement stations to provide accurate measurements on
renewable energy resources potentials in the remote villages of Aral Sea Region. This will
accelerate in replication of similar hybrid systems for an isolated operation (autonomous
electricity providing) in other villages to generate electricity from the wind/solar potentials that can
also be used for other basic needs such as: lighting for householders, schools and mobile
hospitals.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
2.7 Redesign of the System
While the design and dimensioning of this pilot project were considered as a very successful due
to a very solid team work of the implementation team, however a moderate and supportive
affords must be done to secure the coming phase of operation and maintenance challenges. This
pilot project has demonstrated a successful integration of different manufactures components in a
functioning compound. However it’s early to conclude the optimality of the system until secure
and reliable of a stand-alone system were proved. Different dimensioning amendment might be
required for the system to be replicated in other places depending on nature of the load and the
potentials of the renewable energy resources in the proposed locations.
3- Operation and Maintenance
3.1 Hybrid System
1- Wind Turbine (WT); it is expected that the wind turbine to be stable in providing the
required nominal capacity and power production even in low wind speeds; It is anticipated
a minimum one year stable operational period.
2- Photo Voltaic (PV); on the basis of the preliminary results of application of PV system it
has been established that PV technology is the most efficient method of providing the
basic energy needs of the poorest rural communities.
3- The designed and installed hybrid system in the village is in optimal functioning condition
at the present time and in a satisfactory way, while its is expected to face miner basic
maintenance challenges that can be overcome with end user’s well prepared training
schemes and availability of funds for spare parts.
4- The challenge of cleaning and replacing the filters inside the desalination part of the
hybrid system can be in the long run an obstacle for operation and maintenance. The
funds gained from clean water trading to village householders can cover the cost of
periodic/routine maintenance and replacement of the desalinating unit’s filters (cleaning
and replacement).
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
3.2 Water User Association
Water User Association (WUA) to delivery Clean Water for Households in the Tokabay Village
A Water User Association (WUA) established by the village NGO’s for water delivery to the house
holders in the village. This source of safe drinking water is likely to improve the lives of all the
inhabitants of Tokabay. If the system does not fail, improvements in health are likely to be the
most obvious benefits - and because women and children have been seen to have higher levels
of anemia, kidney disease and water borne diseases. Indirect benefits to women may include the
improved sense of empowerment if they are able to work together to find solutions to their social
and economic development themselves, such as through activities of the WUA.
Community water management is a complex problem with all kinds of factors interacting on many
different levels: supply technology, water (resource) availability, service level, community
capacity, institutional environments, rules and regulation, ability to pay etc. There are many
different interpretations of community water supply management: From communities providing
their labor to system construction, to full community ownership of the supply system and full
responsibility for its operation and maintenance. For instance: an important part of a sustainable
water supply service is the recovery of operation and maintenance costs. For that a community
needs to make rules and regulations. To create and enforce such rules and regulations a
committee is needed. This committee needs to represent the whole of the community and it
needs to be accountable for its actions. In addition it needs to be able to enforce its decisions,
which calls for a mixture of external support and internal legitimacy. Committees have to deal
with many other issues: monitoring system performance, taking decisions on extension of the
system, taking decisions on the level of service, deciding how to ensure poor people's access
that can not pay the fee and so on. In addition committees often also have to deal with
management of the water source and conflicts over the different uses of water.
The challenges of tariffs and allocated costs for water to be purchased by the villagers have to be
negotiated and supported by local village authorities so the installed system has enough funds to
cover its maintenance and operation costs while the overall majority of the villagers getting the
benefits of the clean drinking water from the renewable energy compound.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
4- Conclusion
It is found feasible to demonstrate the use of solar and wind energy in the rural area by transfer
of appropriate technology from other countries. The successful transfer of technology and
subsequent replication of the demonstrated application will fulfill the goal of large scale utilization
of solar and wind energy in rural areas of Kazakhstan, without depending extremely on expensive
infrastructure and without drawing on valuable and limited resources of foreign funds in the
present economic situation of the country. Analyzing the challenges on the rural areas it leads us
to:
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that due to the lack of infrastructure (electricity lines) and the thin and widespread
population, renewable energy systems have extremely good conditions for improving the
lifestyle and welfare of the remote villagers in the Aral Sea Region;
that it will improve the health and welfare of the population;
that the villagers can afford to the cost of such small systems that they will become
independent of imported fuel;
that Kazakhstan society possess the human resources to implement its own production
and distribution of small scale energy systems to the rural areas.
Taking into consideration the social, environmental and economic advantages of the installed
hybrid system in the village Tokabay, the sustainable operation of such systems is the main
target of their extended replicability. Hybrid systems using different design methods, as well as,
well developed dimensioning tools have been demonstrated successfully in this pilot project.
However, their on-site operation, in most cases, under severe conditions in a lack of
infrastructure environment presents probable unsustainable operation. The components of this
hybrid system seem to present a steady behavior and have already improved the overall system's
flexibility and reliability.
The local authorities and (Central Government), therefore, desires through this project to
establish as a first step: a large scale demonstration of hybrid WT/PV system's to improve
living standards and working condition of rural people, in order to build up necessary experiences
and a technical support capabilities for large-scale rural electrification through the use of hybrid
WT/PV systems.
This decentralization of energy supply will also contribute to the growth of small and medium-size
industries and businesses in rural areas, whose populations are often dependent upon
subsistence-level income from the land. If properly managed, such small-scale production could
form the basis of income for rural populations.
As it concerns the installation and maintenance of small-scale hybrid systems (wind/solar) in
isolated areas in Kazakhstan, a long way has to be traced before considered sustainable.
Transition to an entirely renewable sustainable energy resource economy with resulting changes
in lifestyles is inevitable. The transition to this wider diversity of energy sources will proceed
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
slowly and probably be somewhat provincial depending on what regional resources are available.
The challenge of conversion to alternative energy sources with the concurrent problems of
population size and stabilization, and adjustment of economies and lifestyles is clearly at hand.
Therefore to develop priorities and project pipelines to be replicated in other villages and remote
areas of Aral Sea and other remote areas of Kazakhstan, attention should be given to followings:


Compatibility with national development priorities/industrial strategies of Kazakhstan
Baseline scenario, demonstrated by this pilot project and other pilot projects

Project scenario, development of projects that complies with needs of each and every
villages
Real, measurable and long-term environmental benefits
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Cost-effectiveness, selection technologies those are friendlier to the existing infrastructure
of the region
5- Future Funding Strategy
Using renewable energy source technologies in the development of remote areas of Aral Sea
region requires funding from different stockholders; both government (central and local) and
donor organizations. An initial pilot project that is funded by donor organization has to be taken
over by funding and support from central or local authorities. Therefore a funding strategy is to be
developed to secure future funding; showing minimal reliance on future support from particular
grant maker and more commitment for funds from other sources; International Fund for Aral Sea,
allocated funds for developing wind resources (UNDP/GEF) in Kazakhstan and other bilateral
funding organizations as, Nordic Fund, SIDA. etc).
5.1 Specific activities and state support required

State support: The absence of dedicated governmental funding in this area makes an
initial investment in facilities by the state imperative. It is only then that more oriented
donor funding may be won and combined to pursue centre objectives.

Consortia: Develop consortia to facilitate communication and research among key
academic disciplines and industry sectors (renewable energy) to identify and develop new
products to serve renewable energy’s small and medium systems. Consortia may be built
around the activities of industry associations as like involving newly created National
Innovative Fund in Kazakhstan to fund researching efforts in the sphere of small and
medium size wind turbines.
Regional support: The development of these consortia may be aided by state support for
regional business development organizations that often play an important role in
convening industry and facilitating networking among regional companies.
Capacity building: The logical next step is to develop curricula for training NGO’s,
students at different levels to provide the skilled workforce needed for future growth of
renewable energy industry.
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Kimo Karini, International Consultant
6- Potential of Renewable Energy in Kazakhstan
6.1 Solar and Wind Energy’s Reliability
Solar Energy
This is a favourite possible source of future energy for many people, comforted by the thought
that it is unlimited. But the big problem is how to store significant amounts of electricity when the
Sun is not available to produce it, for example, at night. The problem remains unsolved. Because
of this, solar energy cannot be used as a dependable base load. And, the immediate end product
is electricity, a very limited replacement for oil. Also, adding in all the energy costs of the
production and maintenance of PV installations, the net energy recovery is low.
Wind Energy
This energy source is similar to solar in that it is not dependable. It is noisy (large installations),
and the visual effects are not usually regarded as pleasing. Locally and even regionally via a grid
(e.g. Denmark) wind can be a significant electric power source. As with solar energy, the storage
problem of large amounts of wind generated electricity is largely unsolved. Wind cannot provide a
base load as winds are unreliable.
6.2 Energy Supply Situation in the Rural Areas
The villages of Aral Sea region are very badly affected by the lack of fuel supply and their energy
structure is vulnerable. The remote villages’ lifestyle is less depending on fuel supply. It is in fact
a very sustainable lifestyle. However, it is considered that their welfare compared to the rest of
the population of the country is threatened if they do not get basic electric energy supply for basic
requirements as water installations (extracting water from boreholes). The future growth in the
livestock sector's economy will depend in supply of electricity. The livestock sector is very
important for the economy of Kazakhstan.
Providing electricity to rural communities is not an easy task for Kazakhstan. The use of
conventional solution to supply these areas with electricity whether through extension of existing
grids or through stand-alone "mini-grids" based on diesel generator sets require very large
investments and is not feasible. A new approach is necessary, as we shall see looks more and
more like a solution based on mobile electrification, Island Operation either using small wind
turbines or Photo Voltaic or the combination of both as this pilot project demonstrated.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Annex (1)
Itinerary
Itinerary of My visit to the Pilot Project Site, From October 03 – October 05
The purpose of the visit was to conduct the final surveys and consultation at the pilot project site,
Village Tokabay, with all stakeholders involved in the commissioning of the project.
Meetings with the local staff at the village, the leading responsible NGO, Konakbai, The operator
of the system Kotokbai and the Akim of the village were constructive and all benefits and
challenges of the pilot project were highlighted.
Visit to Aralsk town were also conducted, however meeting with Akim of the town were not
possible due to administrative reasons. Other meetings with other stockholders as "Initiatives
Support Centre" an NGO Association of the Aral region were held.
Kimo Karini, International Consultant
Annex (2)
Implementation Team
THE IMPLEMENTING AGENCY
"Initiatives Support Center" NGO Association of the Aral region
Mr. Askar Khussainov, Executive Director
Tel./fax:+7 (32433) 22471 E-mail: (undparal@mail.kz)
PROJECT MANAGER
Mr. Igor Zhaksylykov Tel./fax:+ 7 (32422) 61125 E-mail: undpkzld@mail.kz
WITH PARTICIPATION OF
NGO "Kyzylorda Sustainable Development Initiatives Implementation Unit", Kyzlerda City
Tel./fax:+ 7 (32422) 61125, E-mail: (undpkzld@mail.kz)
NGO "Barshakum Water Users Association", Tokabay Village Tel.:+7 (32433) 24317
CONSULTANTS
Mr. Valeriy Zhiltsov ,
Mr. Yakiya Arystanbayev
Mr. Kairat Smagulov
Mr. Arystanbek Jainov
Mr. Kimo Karini
Renewable Energy
Hydrogeology
Hydrogeology
Water supply and Construction Works
International Consultant (kimo.karini@undp.org)
FUNDING AND SUPPORT
Funds
UNDP Thematic Trust Fund and UNDP Small Grant Projects
Support
UNDP CO, Almaty Kazakhstan,
Ms. Aida Karazhanova (aida.karazhanova@undp.org)
Mr. Stanislav Kim (stanislav.kim@undp.org)
www.caresd.net; www.undp.kz
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
"Kwazar", Kiev, Ukraine
Tel./fax: + 380 (44) 4348843; 2053455
E-mail: (aokvazar@nbi.com.ua), or (tw@nbi.com.ua)
www.kvazar.com