Kazakhstan's balancing electricity market grows, intermediaries profit
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Kazakhstan's balancing electricity market expanded in 2025, according to KOREM's financial report. Intermediaries, or providers, earned billions of tenge by facilitating bilateral trades between producers and consumers. The market's design allows providers to profit from price spreads without significant risk.
Market Growth
The balancing electricity market in Kazakhstan grew in 2025, as per the financial report of KOREM, the market operator under the Ministry of Energy. The market handles deviations between actual and planned hourly electricity production and consumption. It is designed to ensure real-time balance but operates through fixed bilateral pairs, not as a free centralized exchange.
Intermediary Profits
Providers, acting as intermediaries, earn fees for facilitating trades between paired producers and consumers. In 2025, Nomad Power Energy paid 9.1 billion tenge in taxes, while Qazenergy-XXI paid 3.1 billion tenge in early 2026. Their payroll tax contributions were an order of magnitude smaller, highlighting the scale of their revenues.
Regulatory Gaps
The market's structure allows providers to profit from price spreads without bearing production or consumption risks. Inbusiness.kz previously reported that legislative gaps enable providers to earn tens of billions of tenge. The system lacks centralization, limiting participation to pre-arranged pairs rather than open competition.
What's Next
The Ministry of Energy may consider regulatory reforms to address the market's inefficiencies. It remains unclear whether policymakers will introduce measures to reduce intermediary profits or shift toward a more centralized model.
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Kazakhstan's balancing electricity market grows, intermediaries profit
