Power blackout hits Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan

Pylons of high-tension electrical energy energy traces are seen subsequent to the GRES-1 coal-fired thermal energy plant outdoors the city of Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan November 7, 2021. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev/File Picture

ALMATY, Jan 25 (Reuters) – The central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan suffered electrical energy outages in main cities on Tuesday, in accordance with authorities and residents, after a significant energy line in Kazakhstan was disconnected.

The grids of the three ex-Soviet republics are interconnected, and by way of Kazakhstan are linked to the Russian energy grid which they’ll use to cowl sudden shortages.

However Kazakhstan’s North-South energy line, which hyperlinks densely populated southern Kazakhstan and its two neighbours to main energy stations in northern Kazakhstan and the Russian community, was disconnected on Tuesday morning on account of “emergency imbalances” within the Central Asian a part of the grid, grid operator KEGOC stated.

The blackout brought about chaos throughout the area for a number of hours, with subway trains caught in tunnels and skiers on lifts, airports closing, district heating and faucet water pumps going idle and site visitors lights switching off.

Neither of the three international locations reported any issues with its energy stations that might have brought about the imbalances.

Kazakhstan, which has beforehand skilled energy shortages as a result of inflow of cryptocurrency miners, has began routinely reducing off their energy provide and did so from Jan. 24 till the tip of the month, in accordance with a doc printed on-line by one of many native miners.

Outages had been reported in Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis Almaty and a number of other main southern cities near the Uzbek and Kyrgyz borders. The airport of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, briefly stopped accepting flights.

Authorities in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan stated they had been restarting energy vegetation after emergency shutdowns and would initially stay disconnected from the Central Asian grid.

Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Further reporting by Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov in Tashkent and Olga Dzyubenko in Bishkek
Modifying by Jason Neely and Mark Potter

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.