German delegation in Central Asia to promote cooperation. Joachim Goldbeck was also on board!
A wind farm as big as Brandenburg in the Kazakh steppe – that was one reason for the visit of the German delegation led by Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, to Central Asia. Joachim Goldbeck, CEO of GOLDBECK SOLAR GmbH, joined the delegation.
Closer cooperation with Kazakhstan
During her visit to Central Asia, there was a novelty this time. For the first time, Annalena Baerbock was accompanied by a delegation from the business community. The German Foreign Minister thus underlined her ambitions to cooperate more closely with Kazakhstan on energy policy – and to do so on an equal footing.
Together with the EU, Germany wants to invest in projects to improve infrastructure in various countries as part of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative. As the most important economic partner in Central Asia, Kazakhstan is a central building block for the initiative. More than 200 German companies are active there. At the same time, the country has large reserves of raw materials.
3 million tonnes of green hydrogen
In the course of her visit, the focus was particularly on a hydrogen project in the Caspian Sea region. “For a common and sustainable future,” emphasised the Foreign Minister at the meeting with Kazakh Foreign Minister Muchtar Tleuberdi.
The plan is to produce up to three million tonnes of green hydrogen from 2030 using wind energy and electrolysis with water, which will also be supplied to Germany and the EU.
The wind farm needed for this in the Kazakh steppe is to be built by a German company. Joachim Goldbeck, who was with the delegation in Kazakhstan, explains: “There is a lot of space in Kazakhstan. These are already good conditions for a wind farm.”
Joachim Goldbeck knows what he is talking about. With his company GOLDBECK SOLAR, he has been operating solar plants in Kazakhstan for four years. “A lot of space is also needed for these. And Kazakhstan has plenty of that.”
Emissions trading must be linked
The only area where Joachim Goldbeck sees room for improvement is emissions trading. Fortunately, there are already efforts to link Kazakhstan’s emissions trading with the European one.
“That would be excellent for us. Investments in Central Asia always pose a certain risk. But at the moment the situation is stable. So with closer cooperation between Germany or the EU and Kazakhstan in the field of renewable energies, everyone could benefit,” Joachim Goldbeck sums up.
