Kazakhstan sets 295 MW data centre target for 2027 and 2028

Kazakhstan plans to commission 186 MW of data centre capacity in 2027 and a further 109 MW in the second quarter of 2028, a combined 295 MW, the government said in its account of a 6 October session on the national digital strategy.

The target is large against the existing market. DC Market Insights tracked 29 data centres in Kazakhstan as of 7 October, of which 27 were operating, with operating capacity of about 30.7 MW, The Times of Central Asia reported. On those numbers the plan implies close to ten times the capacity now in service within roughly 20 months. The target figures come from the report of Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, as summarised by the government press service.

Where the capacity is meant to come from

The government's flagship is Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz, in the Pavlodar region, which it describes as a project with a capacity of at least 1 GW. It said land had been allocated, an operator identified, engineering infrastructure and power supply from the GRES-1 power station secured, and construction of the first facilities begun. The account of the session does not break the 186 MW and 109 MW tranches down by project.

Capacity reported that the anchor is a 50 MW AI-focused facility being built by the state operator Kazakhtelecom, due for commissioning by June 2027, with excavation reported 90 per cent complete in August. The same report put the first phase of the Firebird programme at a 125 MW facility valued at around $5 billion.

The US company Firebird is the main foreign partner. In June the government announced a $10 billion package of agreements covering a cluster of 100,000 GPUs, with 300 MW of power available and expansion planned to 1 GW. Its own account lists two signed documents: a strategic cooperation agreement between the ministry and Firebird, and a binding term sheet between Kazakhtelecom and Firebird covering technical and organisational parameters. Nvidia attended but is not listed as a signatory.

On 2 October Kazakhtelecom, its subsidiary KT-Telecom and Firebird AI KZ signed an initial agreement on the construction and long-term leasing of computing infrastructure, The Times of Central Asia reported, adding that the amount for construction and equipment has not been disclosed. Capacity cited the Caspian Policy Center as noting that the Astana agreements did not include binding investment.

Other projects and interest

Madiyev's report said more than 20 international technology companies and investors had shown interest. Capacity listed London-based JMOT04, which signed a memorandum in May for a Tier IV data centre costing up to $1.5 billion, Singapore's GK Hyperscale, which is building two data centres in the Akmola and Karaganda regions, and China's SuperX AI, which is considering a 1 GW cluster. Singapore-based Energy Capital Global, which is considering a campus with an initial phase of about 100 MW expandable to 1 GW, signed a memorandum with KT-Telecom in August, The Times of Central Asia reported.

Power is the constraint to watch

The Times of Central Asia estimated in July that a 250 MW complex running continuously would use about 2.19 billion kWh a year, roughly 1.8 per cent of Kazakhstan's 2025 electricity use, and noted that thermal plants generated 74.4 per cent of the country's electricity in 2025. It also reported that the first Ekibastuz centre is to draw on an existing 215 MW substation.

The same 6 October report said a "strategic digital mining" facility with 90 MW of capacity was launched on 12 September, using associated petroleum gas.

The milestones to watch, as set out by Capacity, are:

• whether the Firebird framework converts into committed capital;
• whether power and grid upgrades keep pace with construction;
• whether the first 50 MW is commissioned by June 2027.