Minister Denies Kanye West Concert Setup Caused Almaty Blackout

Kazakhstan’s energy minister has dismissed claims that equipment prepared for Kanye West’s concert caused the major blackout that hit Almaty on August 14, Orda.kz reports.

The outage affected much of Almaty and several other regions. Kanye West was due to perform at the city’s Central Stadium that evening, prompting speculation online that the artist’s giant spherical stage installation had overloaded the power grid.

Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov rejected that explanation.

The Atyrau refinery consumes 90 MW, while 600 MW was disconnected here. A sphere consuming perhaps five, 10 or 20 MW could not affect the stability of the power system. I completely rule out any connection with Kanye West’s sphere,Akkenzhenov said.

The minister also ruled out deliberate external interference. He said the blackout resulted from a technical accident, whose precise cause is being investigated by a special commission.

The concert was ultimately postponed until the following day because of severe weather.

Original author: Ilya Astakhov

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