Eni and KazMunayGas Reach Gas Generation at 247-MW Kazakhstan Hybrid Plant
First power output from the 120-MW gas unit at Mangystau extends Eni's Central Asia portfolio as Kazakhstan draws competing energy investment from multiple directions.
Eni SpA's Plenitude unit and NC KazMunayGas have achieved first generation at the 120-megawatt gas power plant forming part of the 247-megawatt Mangystau Hybrid Power Plant Project in Kazakhstan, the company announced on July 23 (2026-07-23). The Mangystau facility pairs gas-fired baseload capacity with renewable generation in a single project structure, a configuration that reflects Kazakhstan's difficulty integrating variable power into a grid still dominated by ageing coal plants.4
Plenitude, Eni's retail energy and renewables subsidiary, is accumulating a sizeable operational position in Kazakhstan. The Mangystau gas milestone sits alongside an existing Kazakh renewables portfolio that already includes the 96-megawatt Badamsha Wind Farms in the Aktobe region and a 50-megawatt solar plant in the Turkestan region, according to the company. That combined capacity puts Eni among the larger foreign operators in Kazakhstan's power sector, where domestic generation investment has lagged behind the country's growing electricity needs.4
The 247-MW total project capacity makes Mangystau a meaningful addition to the Kazakh grid. KazMunayGas, Kazakhstan's national oil company, holds the local partnership stake. Whether the full hybrid project — gas plant plus renewable component — is yet fully operational is not specified in company disclosures; only the 120-MW gas unit has been confirmed at generation as of the July 23 (2026-07-23) announcement.4
Eni is not alone in betting on Kazakhstan's power buildout. Masdar, the Abu Dhabi state-backed renewables developer, broke ground on a 1-gigawatt wind farm in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl region on July 1 (2026-07-01), its first renewable energy project in the country. The project includes 400 kilometres of new transmission lines, a scale of grid reinforcement that underlines how serious Kazakhstan's transmission constraints are, particularly in the south and west.3
Russia is deepening its Kazakhstan energy ties along a separate axis. During Putin's visit to Astana, Moscow signed a $16.5 billion agreement through Rosatom to build Kazakhstan's first commercial nuclear power plant, with Russia reportedly financing roughly 85 percent of the cost through export loans. Kazakhstan is simultaneously hosting Italian hybrid gas-renewable capacity, Gulf-backed wind, and a Russian-financed nuclear project — a configuration that suits a government trying to diversify both its energy mix and its political dependencies.2
The power sector investments come in a country that functions as the primary land bridge for Central Asian gas flowing east. Pipelines originating in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan traverse Kazakhstan before reaching China's Xinjiang region, supplying more than 40 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually to Chinese buyers, according to reporting from May (2026-05-21). Any sustained increase in Kazakhstan's domestic gas consumption for power generation would put incremental pressure on the volumes available for transit.1
China is also pressing ahead with longer-term supply diversification. Beijing's 15th five-year plan, released in March (2026-03), flagged commitment to early-stage work on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, a 2,600-kilometre planned route designed to carry 50 billion cubic metres of Russian gas annually from the Yamal fields to China via Mongolia. That project still lacks a confirmed timetable. Power of Siberia 1 delivered 38 bcm to China last year, with Russia and China having agreed to expand that capacity to 44 bcm per year.1
The near-term signal to watch is the timeline for completing the remaining components of the Mangystau hybrid project and how much of the plant's gas feedstock draws from domestic Kazakh production versus supplies otherwise available for transit. Kazakhstan's energy position, already pulled between multiple foreign partners and between domestic needs and export commitments, grows more constrained with each new gas-fired project commissioned.4,1