Kyrgyzstan Confirms Generator Failure but Rejects Blame for Almaty Blackout

Kyrgyzstan has confirmed that two generating units at the Toktogul Hydropower Plant briefly shut down on August 14. However, its Energy Ministry disputes KEGOC’s claim that the incident directly caused the major blackout in Almaty and the surrounding region, Orda.kz reports.

According to the Kyrgyz Energy Ministry, a technical failure occurred at 3:37 p.m. The country’s power system then separated from the interconnected Central Asian grid and began operating independently.

Kyrgyz engineers took measures to stabilize the system. By 3:55 p.m., they had restored the regional grid frequency to its standard level of 50 hertz.

The ministry said Kyrgyzstan’s power system supported neighboring countries by supplying approximately 250 MW. It also maintained that the Almaty power ring disconnected only after the regional frequency had returned to normal.

The ministry confirmed that two units at the Toktogul plant briefly shut down but said the initial failure should not automatically be treated as the direct cause of subsequent outages in other countries.

According to the Kyrgyz side, national power systems should remain stable in isolated operation while the regional balance is restored, including during periods of reduced frequency. Events that occurred later within each country’s grid therefore require separate analysis.

Kyrgyzstan said it would be premature to hold its power system responsible for all subsequent consequences before a joint technical investigation is completed.

What Happened

On August 14, a major power outage affected Almaty and several other regions of Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry initially attributed the incident to a sudden change in electricity flows within the Central Asian power system.

KEGOC later said the shutdown of two generating units at the Toktogul Hydropower Plant overloaded Kazakhstan’s North–East–South transmission corridor.

The country’s southern power zone subsequently separated from Kazakhstan’s Unified Power System and the interconnected Central Asian grid linking Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

A special commission is investigating the cause and sequence of the technical failures.

Original author: Alina Kostina

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