In brief
Kazakhstan has announced a 20‑year data center initiative expected to pull in about $3.1 billion in annual export proceeds. The plan, backed by a $115 billion investment, will see three initial centers kicking off in 2027 and a total capacity of 1GW by 2029. However, final numbers and partnership details remain rounded‑up, leaving key milestones uncertain.
On November 6, 2026, the Kazakh prime minister’s press service announced that its planned Data Center Valley would generate roughly 3.1 billion dollars in annual export revenue, according to a statement built on KPMG consulting estimates.
The proposal represents a 20‑year project that will see a total investment of almost 115 billion dollars, projected to allow the country’s data‑center cluster to reach 1 GW of capacity by 2029. The initiative seeks to strengthen Kazakhstan’s technology sector and export profile, with the first phase featuring three data centers totaling 304 MW.
Construction of the first three centers has already begun, with capacities of 68 MW, 164 MW and 72 MW. The facilities are scheduled to begin operations in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2027, respectively. These facilities are the cornerstone of what the government calls the “Data Center Valley” – a moniker that has become synonymous with the nation’s ambitious move to place itself at the core of regional digital infrastructure.
For the second phase, preliminary agreements have been signed with companies to deploy up to 480 MW of computing capacity, potentially expanding to 620 MW. Negotiations are also underway with other firms to develop an additional 240 MW of capacity, potentially expanding to 420 MW. These figures are presented as possibilities, not guarantees, and hinge on the completion of contracting agreements and further engineering studies.
The project’s broader vision includes a large‑scale computing cluster equipped with about 100,000 graphics processing units, a figure that the government announced in an earlier statement. That figure is tied to a budget of $10 billion, earmarked specifically for the build‑out of the GPU‑heavy cluster that will underpin services for cloud providers, AI researchers and big‑data operators.
The projection of 1 GW of total capacity by 2029 places Kazakhstan among a handful of states that are building substantial data‑center footprints. The 1 GW figure is drawn from a staged approach in which the third and fourth phases would see incremental deployments that align with projected domestic demand and export contracts.
Accordingly, the Kazakh government has highlighted a number of uncertainties that accompany a project of its scale. The exact timelines for the second and third phases have not yet been fixed; they remain contingent on finalizing company-negotiated contracts and securing local and international investors. The actual final capacity of the valley – whether it will stay at 1 GW or expand beyond – also remains subject to negotiation outcomes and market conditions. Additionally, the actual annual export revenue could vary if the 3.1 billion‑dollar figure – derived from KPMG estimates – does not match realized market activity or if the 100,000‑GPU cluster does not attract the volume of service contracts that the government expects.
By leaving these variables in play, the Kazakh administration is acknowledging the speculative nature that comes with large‑scale, technology‑driven infrastructure projects. The deal’s completion, the final capacity numbers, and the durability of projected export revenue all hinge on factors that remain open to change, as highlighted in the prime minister’s press release.
