Center for Natural Resources and Sustainability

Central Asia, Afghanistan

German Federal Foreign Office (AA), German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), USAID Power Central Asia, German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), UNESCO

Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Association of RES "Qazaq Green"

has been held annually since 2018

Renewable energy sources (RES), green energy, alternative energy sources, energy transition, energy efficiency, energy conservation, solar power plant (SPP), wind power plant (WPP), hydropower plant (HPP), small HPP, power sector in Central Asia

The project "Renewable Energy Trip" is organized to visit renewable energy sites, which will allow students and researchers to study solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants, their technical and technological features, existing problems and ways to solve them in practice.

The main objectives of Renewable Energy Trip are to obtain knowledge and experience in practical research, prepare best practice cases on renewable energy sources, as well as disseminate information, exchange experiences between countries and develop scientific partnerships in Central Asia.

Project beneficiaries

Who is eligible to apply (at the time of the official call for participation):

• Undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate or PhD students, young researchers of universities and institutes;
• researchers of specialized organizations;
• citizens of Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries, including those studying in Kazakhstan;
• proficient in oral and written Russian;
• proficiency in English is an advantage.

Using the information obtained during the trip to prepare a bachelor or master's thesis, scientific article/study or PhD dissertation is an advantage and the main criterion for selection.

Expected/actual results of the project

• In 2018, a group of master’s students of Kazakh-German University and doctoral students of Satpayev University (15 people) visited RES sites in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
• In 2019, total of 14 undergraduate, graduate and PhD students and young researchers from 6 Central Asian countries, including Afghanistan, participated in the expedition. More than 120 applications were submitted for the competition.
• In 2020, 13 participants from Central Asian countries, including Turkmenistan, participated in RE Trip.
• In 2021, more than 140 applications from Central Asia participated in the competition. As a result of the open competition, 16 people were selected. They represented 4 countries: Kazakhstan (5), Kyrgyzstan (4), Tajikistan (4) and Uzbekistan (3). Among them were 6 students of the Master's program "Strategic Management of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency" (SMREEE).
• In 2022, more than 92 applications from Central Asia participated in the competition. As a result of an open competition, 11 people were selected. They represented four countries: Kazakhstan (4), Kyrgyzstan (3), Tajikistan (2) and Uzbekistan (2).

Alexey Kobzev, Head of Green Energy and Climate Lab., DKU, kobzev@dku.kz ;

Dana Zhunissova, Project Specialist, DKU, zhunissova@dku.kz