Major Blackout Hits Much of Central Asia

Two generators shutting down at Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul Hydropower Plant triggered a major grid disruption on August 14, causing outages across Kazakhstan and other parts of Central Asia. In Kazakhstan, the blackout affected eight regions and disrupted transport, water supplies and communications in Almaty, Orda.kz reports.

According to KEGOC, the failure overloaded Kazakhstan’s North-East-South transmission corridor. The country’s southern power zone was temporarily separated from both the main Kazakh grid and the interconnected Central Asian system linking Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The disruption almost simultaneously affected Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and parts of Uzbekistan.

Eight Kazakh Regions Affected

The disruption reached Kazakhstan’s grid at 2:38 p.m. Three KEGOC-owned 500 kV transmission lines — L-5400, L-5300 and L-5320 — shut down. Emergency protection systems disconnected around 300 MW of demand.

KEGOC reported outages in the Almaty, Zhambyl, Turkistan, Kyzylorda and Karaganda regions, as well as the Zhetysu, Abai and Ulytau regions. Orda.kz readers also reported disruptions in Shymkent.

In Almaty, confirmed outages affected the Bostandyk, Nauryzbay, Auezov, Medeu and Alatau districts. Reports also came from the Almaly and Zhetysu districts. Ten districts in the surrounding Almaty region were affected.

Metro, Traffic Lights and Water Supplies Disrupted

The Almaty metro stopped operating, and passengers were evacuated from trains and stations.

Backup batteries kept station lighting and ventilation running, but could not provide enough power to move trains.

Traffic lights stopped working across parts of the city. Police officers were deployed to direct vehicles as congestion reached nine points on a ten-point scale.

Hospitals continued operating with backup generators and uninterruptible power supplies. Priority was given to intensive care units, operating rooms, emergency departments and other critical equipment.

Residents also reported reduced water pressure and temporary supply interruptions after pumping stations lost power. Upper floors and some residential areas were particularly affected.

Social media users reported people becoming stranded in cable cars, while others experienced interruptions to mobile and internet services.

Power Restored in Stages

KEGOC restored transmission supply to the Karaganda, Abai and Ulytau regions by 2:47 p.m. Power was restored to the Almaty and Zhetysu regions by 4:26 p.m., followed by the Zhambyl, Turkistan and Kyzylorda regions at 4:34 p.m.

At 4:26 p.m., southern Kazakhstan was reconnected to the country’s main grid and the Central Asian power system.

Local utilities continued reconnecting individual customers. By the evening, the Almaty metro had resumed service and around 90% of the city’s traffic lights were working again. Alatau Jaryq Company said electricity had been fully restored to consumers in Almaty and the surrounding region by 8:30 p.m.

A special commission will investigate the technical failure.

Severe Weather Postpones Concert

After the power supply returned, heavy rain and strong winds forced organizers to postpone Kanye West’s concert at Almaty’s Central Stadium until August 15.

The postponement was attributed to severe weather rather than the blackout. Organizers said existing tickets would remain valid, and the artist confirmed the change on social media.

Read also:

• Almaty Metro To Replace Korean-Controlled System After Technical Failures
• Kazakhstan’s EV Boom Is Here. Is The Grid Ready?
• Kanye West Gets Almaty Stadium as FC Kairat Heads to Turkestan