Under construction
The Unicase Team made a comprehensive analysis of electricity tariff formation and balancing electricity services for regulating the capacity of large and small hydroelectric power plants in Kazakhstan. We drafted amendments to the Republic legislation, analysed and reviewed the experience of the most advanced countries in terms of the tariff formation and mechanisms for attracting investment to the hydropower industry development. The Team drafted amendments to the legislation to introduce the incentive tariffs, taking into account all costs for the HPPs construction. We also assisted the Client in the introduction of incentive measures for the hydro energy system development.

Confidential

Electricity Tariff Setting System for Large and Small Hydroelectric Power Plants
MENU
The Project has been of the state importance. On September 4, 2020, the Government approved the Development Plan for the Hydropower Industry for 2020-2030, which aims to ensure the security of the country's energy by an increase in flexible electric capacity to regulate daily volumes of electricity generation and consumption. One of the main impacts of the Plan is to improve the conditions for the investment projects implementation: the construction of new, reconstruction, and modernization of existing HPPs, improvement of the local legislation and the hydropower industry model. The Plan would determine the economically effective hydro potential of the Republic, create an online map to list potential hydroelectric power plant projects, analyse electricity tariff formation for large and small plants.
Currently, the legislation supports hydropower development in the field of renewable energy through auctions based on the principle of reducing the price of electricity, starting from the fixed tariffs of 2014. Despite the measures taken to introduce modern renewable energy support mechanisms in Kazakhstan (auctions, fixed tariffs), against the background of the weighted average cost of buying electricity from hydroelectric power plants in the world, the pricing system and low electricity rates remain the main reasons for relatively low investment attractiveness of projects for the power plants construction in Kazakhstan.
Impact & Outcome
When planning the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the most complex are to estimate the facility costs and determine other technical and economic indicators. Tariff regulation is at the core of these indicators; thus, future tariffs will have a direct impact on how the hydropower generation industry develops. Our work was to establish a fair tariff formation mechanism, which would make the building and reconstruction of HEPs feasible for operators and investors, and at the same time, would remain socially affordable for the government and the people.
Cases
Currently, the Kazakhstan Energy Ministry, a number of other government agencies, the Unicase Law Firm, and Samruk-Energy JSC are implementing a whole range of measures aimed at improving the conditions for investment projects in hydroelectric power plants construction.
We helped the European largest wind power plant manufacturer, a Danish company Vestas, on entering the Kazakhstan market and starting a large-scale investment programme.
Unicase proved its effectiveness in reviewing, amending, and developing national legislation and regulations for heat supply, including taxation and heat tariffs.
Sustainable energy supply affects the local energy market and regulation, wind and solar power generation, power transmission and distribution grids, energy storage and sustainable energy use.
We completed a comprehensive review of existing national legislation and regulations which govern geothermal energy utilisation in Kazakhstan.
Being current on market developments, we advised a Chinese Investment Fund and a Leading Chinese Law Firm on a wide range of subsoil use operations regulatory matters, state approvals, land, and environmental legal issues, to support the Fund in its investments into a large hydrocarbon mine in Kazakhstan.
We rendered full legal support to Zhetysu Wolfram LLP, carrying out mining operations on the Boguty deposit and producing the highest quality tungsten concentrate.
We ran a due diligence on the Client company and issued a legal opinion on the financing to be provided by the Kazakhstan Development Bank for a 50 MW wind power plant.
Our Experts supported the second largest renewable energy corporation in the world during acquisition and project development of a 206 MW wind farm project.
The Unicase Team made a comprehensive analysis of electricity tariff formation and balancing electricity services for regulating the capacity of large and small hydroelectric power plants in Kazakhstan.
We advised a global leader in electricity supply machinery and hardware on the first-ever auction in Kazakhstan for the construction of regulated energy generation facilities. 
The Team provided legal services to the country's largest gas pipeline owner, which is the only route for gas exports from Kazakhstan to China.
We provided the Client with legal advisory services within a pilot project on building and operating a 100-megawatt solar power plant, based on a private bilateral sleeved PPA mechanism.
We assisted the international corporation in reviewing, amending, and developing the existing national legislation and regulations of the RES, including taxation and auctions.
Unicase provided consultancy services to a Chinese the oil and gas company as part of a consortium of transborder companies for the construction of a comprehensive gas production project with an estimated value of 500 million USD
Unicase team provides comprehensive legal support for the investment project of Almaty Power Plants JSC, a subsidiary of Samruk-Energy JSC which holds 100% of the company's stocks, on modernise Almaty TPP-2 with a focus on minimising the environmental impact.
Unicase provides legal services in the framework of an energy capacity building project for competitive procurement in the hydropower industry in the Republic of Uzbekistan.