Kazakhstan has put dates on the build-out of its Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz: 186MW of capacity is due online in 2027 and another 109MW in the second quarter of 2028, for 295MW in total. That is roughly 30% of the campus's 1GW target, and the 2027 tranche alone is 3.7 times the 50MW first facility the government has been talking about until now.
The schedule came from Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, at a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov on 6 October. Land in Ekibastuz has been allocated, an operator chosen, engineering networks laid and power secured from the Ekibastuz GRES-1 plant, he said, and construction of the first facilities is under way. He also cited the $10bn package of agreements with US AI infrastructure company Firebird and said more than 20 international technology companies and investors have shown interest. The Prime Minister's website, Kazinform and Elordainfo reported this that day; Forbes.kz and Business FM reported them later.
One caveat matters. The 186MW and 109MW are planned commissioning volumes. The government has not said which facilities make them up, how much is Kazakhtelecom's and how much will come from foreign investors. Only the first facility is pinned down. At an August meeting with the Prime Minister, officials said excavation for its energy centres and AI factories was 90% complete; the main data-centre and power buildings are to be up by the end of December 2026, commissioning finished in May 2027 and operations started in June. A Pavlodar regional government meeting on 14 October repeated that timeline: the project, which the region calls KT AI HUB, is to finish main construction by year-end and launch its first 50MW phase by 30 June 2027.
Our own arithmetic, not an official figure: reaching 186MW in 2027 means roughly 136MW has to come from somewhere other than that first facility. Who will build it, and under what contracts, has not been made public.
The $10bn Firebird headline also deserves a close reading. In June, after Bektenov met NVIDIA Vice President Rev Lebaredian and Firebird's co-founders, two documents were signed. One is a strategic cooperation agreement between the AI ministry and Firebird, which includes setting up Firebird Labs Kazakhstan at Alem.ai. The other is a Binding Term Sheet between KT-Telecom, a Kazakhtelecom unit, and Firebird, setting the technical and organisational terms for working together at the valley. Madiyev spoke at the time of a cluster of 100,000 GPUs, including NVIDIA GB300 and Vera Rubin, and estimated export revenue of at least $3bn a year. That is the minister's estimate, not a contract term. Neither a framework agreement nor a term sheet is an investment contract with committed amounts and deadlines.
Power is the obvious question, and the official answer has three parts. The site sits in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan's coal-power hub, drawing on GRES-1. According to the August meeting, a 215MW substation has been bought for the project, the water supply network has been designed and telecoms infrastructure is being designed. And in June the government said 300MW was available now, to be scaled up in stages to 1GW.
Rules related to this news
- Customs duty exemption for equipment under investment contract KazakhstanUnder a simplified investment contract, process equipment and components are exempt from import customs duties for the…Text and legal basis →
- Simplified investment contract Kazakhstan in-kind grantA simplified investment contract provides two non-tax preferences: a state in-kind grant (land, buildings, equipment, …Text and legal basis →
- Investment incentivesFrom 1 January 2026 the former investment priority project regime is replaced by three instruments: (1) investment agr…Text and legal basis →
A rough order of magnitude (assuming all 295MW run at full load year-round and that the figure already includes cooling and auxiliary systems): 295MW × 8,760 hours comes to about 2.58 billion kWh a year. Actual consumption will depend on utilisation and efficiency. The more useful point is that a 215MW substation and 300MW of "available" power are already close to the first two phases. Getting anywhere near 1GW will take new generation and grid capacity.
Chinese companies are already in the picture. On 16 July, during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's visit to Shanghai, Kazakhtelecom and China's HV & Submarine Hengtong Group signed an agreement on the basic principles of cooperation on Data Center Valley, according to Kazakhstan Today, citing the presidential press service, and separately bne IntelliNews. No value or division of roles was disclosed.
Our reading, which is an inference: the GPU clusters are built around Firebird and NVIDIA, and the chips fall under US export controls. That leaves Chinese firms with more realistic openings on the infrastructure side, such as power and distribution equipment, cable, cooling, construction and operations, plus whatever the Hengtong agreement covers. The August meeting also discussed a Cloud First Policy, or "data embassy" model, under which foreign governments could keep data in Kazakhstan while retaining full legal sovereignty over it. How that is written into law will shape how foreign data businesses set up there.
Questions to ask before signing:
1. Is your counterparty Kazakhtelecom, KT-Telecom, Firebird or an investor not yet named? Which part of the 186MW due in 2027 does your work belong to?
2. Are the power tariff and supply guarantees written into the contract? Who pays for capacity beyond the current substation, and when?
3. Does any equipment fall under US export controls, and how are end-user clauses drafted?
4. Is your schedule tied to the June 2027 milestone for the first 50MW, or to later phases? Who carries the risk of delay?
5. Which investment incentives are set out in legal acts, and which so far appear only in press releases?
Sources:
Office of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (primary, 6 Oct 2026), https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/do-150-uslug-cherez-egov-gpt-planiruetsya-zapustit-v-kazahstane-do-konca-goda-31965
Kazinform (6 Oct 2026), https://kaz.inform.kz/news/onrdeg-esepteu-kuattarinin-en-r-habi-kalay-kurilip-zhatir-15790d74/
Elordainfo (6 Oct 2026), https://www.ru.elordainfo.kz/pravitelstvo/dolinu-codov-i-zavody-robototehniki-stroyat-v-kazahstane
Business FM Kazakhstan (citing Forbes.kz), https://businessfm.kz/business/economy/dolina-codov-v-ekibastuze-pervye-moshnosti-planiruyut-zapustit-v-2027-godu
Capacity Media, https://capacityglobal.com/news/kazakhstan-targets-295mw-of-data-centre-capacity-by-2028-as-ekibastuz-build-begins/
Office of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (primary, August 2026), https://primeminister.kz/en/news/olzhas-bektenov-reviews-progress-of-data-center-valley-project-in-pavlodar-region-31770
Kazakhstan Today, https://www.kt.kz/eng/government/kazakhstan_to_launch_first_50_mw_data_center_valley_1377997031.html
Office of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (primary, June 2026), https://primeminister.kz/ru/news/dolina-codov-pravitelstvo-kazaxstana-i-it-giganty-firebird-i-nvidia-podpisali-paket-soglasenii-v-oblasti-ii-na-10-mlrd-31516
BAQ.kz (June 2026), https://rus.baq.kz/kazahstan-postroit-krupneyshiy-ii-klaster-regiona-podpisany-soglasheniya-na-10-mlrd-320031063/
BAQ.kz (14 Oct 2026), https://rus.baq.kz/v-ekibastuze-stroyat-dolinu-data-tsentrov-pervuyu-ochered-zapustyat-do-leta-2027-goda-320049348/
Kazakhstan Today (citing the presidential press service, 16 Jul 2026), https://www.kt.kz/eng/politics/kazakhstan_and_china_sign_15_billion_worth_of_agreements_1377995096.html
bne IntelliNews, https://www.intellinews.com/kazakhstan-china-sign-15bn-worth-of-deals-as-tokayev-visits-shanghai-455262/
(The cover is an AI-generated schematic illustration, not a photograph and not a depiction of any specific site.)
Key facts
- Kazakhstan’s “Data Center Valley” is scheduled to commission 186 MW in 2027 and an additional 109 MW in Q2 2028.
- The two phases of the “Data Center Valley” in Ekibastuz target a combined 295 MW, approximately 30% of the 1 GW long-term goal.
- The Kazakh government has stated that the project’s land, operator, engineering infrastructure, and GRES-1 power supply have been secured, and construction has begun on the first facilities.
- Kazakhtelecom’s first 50 MW facility is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2027, while the government has not disclosed the entities responsible for the remaining capacity or the related contracts.
- Firebird-related documents include a strategic cooperation agreement and basic cooperation terms, rather than a specific investment contract.
- A cooperation agreement on basic principles was signed between a Kazakhtelekom group company and a Hengtong group company; the financial value and specific division of responsibilities have not been disclosed.
FAQ
When will the “Data Center Valley” in Ekibastuz be commissioned in phases?
The project is scheduled to commission 186 MW in 2027 and an additional 109 MW in Q2 2028, for a total of 295 MW.
What percentage of the 1 GW long-term target do the two planned phases represent?
The two planned phases have a combined capacity of 295 MW, representing approximately 30% of the 1 GW long-term target.
When will Kazakhtelecom’s first facility be commissioned?
The first facility will have a capacity of 50 MW and is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2027. The government has not disclosed the composition, responsible entities, or contracts for the remaining facilities included in the two phases.
Have the project’s land and power requirements already been secured?
The Kazakh government has stated that the land, operator, engineering infrastructure, and power from GRES-1 have been secured, and construction has begun on the first facilities.
What is the nature of Firebird’s US$10 billion document and the agreement with Hengtong?
Firebird-related documents include a strategic cooperation agreement and basic cooperation terms, rather than a specific investment contract. A cooperation agreement on basic principles was signed between a Kazakhtelecom group company and a Hengtong group company; the financial value and specific division of responsibilities have not been disclosed.