Hill International, Inc. announced that it was selected by JSC Almaty Power Plants, as part of an international consortium together with its local partners, to provide project management services for the modernization of the Almaty Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Plant. Notably, Hill completed the tender preparation phase in less than four months, and the process itself is now underway. The project will modernize the existing CHP Plant 2 to use natural gas instead of coal as a primary fuel to reduce CO2 emissions and improve air quality in the city.

The project is a part of the Green Cities Program of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Almaty. The primary aim of the project is to reduce CO2 emissions in the city by approximately 3 million tons (a reduction of roughly 56%) and fully avoid air emissions of particulate matter and NOx. The project will help to promote a transition to more sustainable energy sources by addressing priority environmental challenges identified in the draft Almaty Green City Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the biggest stationary source of pollution in Almaty (by at least 3 million tons p/a).

The project will be delivered in phases with the first phase entailing the modernization of a 200 MWe unit. Construction is planned to be carried out in three stages. The entire CHP Plant 2 project is expected to be in complete in 2026.