Ekibastuz GRES-2 Power Station

The GRES-2 Power Station is a coal-fueled power generating station in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan. It is located close to Solnechny and to Shandaksor. The ashes of the station are dumped into Karasor, a nearby lake. As of 2025, the GRES-1 and GRES-2 power stations in Ekibastuz help to generate over 40% of Kazakhstan's electricity output.

Description

GRES-2, commissioned in 1987, has an installed capacity of 1,000 MWe and has the world's tallest flue-gas stack at tall. The reinforced concrete chimney is about taller than the Inco Superstack, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It is the tallest chimney ever built.
The power station is the start of the Powerline Ekibastuz–Kokshetau and uses a transmission voltage of 1,150 kVAC, the highest transmission voltage in the world. The extension of the line to Chelyabinsk, Russia, is also designed for 1,150 kV, but it currently operates at only 500 kV. About three fourths of the energy produced by GRES-2 was exported to Russia.
Fifty percent of GRES-2 shares are owned by Inter RAO UES, and fifty percent by Kazakhstan's government.

The planned capacity of 4,000 MWe is to be provided by eight equal units, 500 MWe each. Unit 1 was launched into service in December 1990. Unit 2 was launched into service in December 1993.