On the afternoon of August 14, electricity went out in four Central Asian countries simultaneously — Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In Bishkek, residents of some districts began complaining of power cuts at around 15:00 local time, Kaktus.media reported. The country's energy ministry said it was aware of the problems but could not yet name the causes.
Shortly afterward, outages hit four districts of Almaty and ten districts of the Almaty region, Tengrinews reported. According to local energy workers, the blackout was caused by an accident on overhead power lines. The energy company KEGOC attributed it to "technological disruptions" on two power lines resulting from a "power surge" from the Central Asian Unified Energy System. The company's statement indicated that power consumption restrictions were introduced in the Karaganda, Abai and Ulytau regions — they have now been lifted.
Witnesses said the metro stopped in Almaty, traffic lights went dark and mobile communications failed. Interruptions to water supply were also reported, likely due to pumping stations losing power. No timeline for restoring electricity has been announced. On Friday evening, Almaty is scheduled to host a concert by rapper Ye (Kanye West). According to the outlet Orda, about 10% of tickets remained unsold — the arena seats nearly 24,000 spectators.
Residents of Dushanbe and other Tajik cities complained of power cuts, Asia-Plus reported. The Ministry of Energy and Water Resources could not name the causes of the blackout but denied the version of an accident at the Nurek hydroelectric plant, the country's largest power station.
Power disruptions also affected several regions of Uzbekistan, in particular the Surkhandarya region in the south. The local energy ministry said the problems were linked to an "accident in the energy system of a neighboring country."
The energy ministries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, whose power grids are interconnected, confirmed the outages and said restoration work was underway. According to Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry, the cause was a voltage surge triggered by a "sharp change in electricity flow from the Central Asian energy system."