ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the legacy of an energy-intensive economy inherited from the era of central planning and specialisation in producing coal and uranium in the Soviet economy. It examines the predictable decline in future demand for coal, oil and gas; the timing is uncertain. The switch to renewable energy sources is uncertain, both with respect to timing and which renewables will turn out to be most economic. The precise nature of world energy markets in 2050 is hard to predict, so Kazakhstan needs to develop institutions and policies that facilitate and reward good decisions. Wrong investments could leave Kazakhstan stranded in a technological backwater, while good policy choices will allow it to continue along the path envisaged in the Kazakhstan 2050 strategy. It is important to situate the shift to renewables and associated need for an improved international electricity grid into Kazakhstan's broader development goals, because they have implications beyond the energy sector.
