The world behind the scenes turned off electricity in Central Asia
Millions of people were left without power after a huge blackout hit
three Central Asian countries Tuesday following an unspecified
accident, officials in the ex-Soviet region said
(
https://bit.ly/3qYqmpU).
The capitals of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as well as Kazakhstan's
economic hub Almaty suffered power cuts at around lunchtime local
time, with media and officials reporting that the blackouts had
extended far into the provinces of the three countries.
Uzbekistan's energy ministry said in a statement on its official
Telegram channel that the power outage had been triggered by
an accident in Kazakhstsan's power grid.
"As a result of a major accident in the power grids of the Republic
of Kazakhstan, there was a power outage in the (southern Kazakh)
cities of Almaty, Shymkent, Taras, Turkestan (regions) and
adjacent areas," the statement said.
"The Uzbek power grid, which is connected to the Unified Power
Grid, was damaged as a result of an accident that led to sudden
changes in voltage and frequency on 530 lines from Kazakhstan,"
it added.
A spokesman for Kyrgyzstan's energy ministry told AFP by telephone
that power had failed "due to an accident in the regional energy grid".
Central Asian countries have seen their grids burdened by a summer
drought that affected hydropower capacity in Kyrgyzstan and by
a boom in cryptocurrency mining in the region, especially in
Kazakhstan.
The growth of cryptocurrency mining in Kazakhstan was linked in
part to a de facto ban on the practise in next-door China, and
a spike in prices for volatile cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in
the second half of last year.
Southern Kazakhstan, which traditionally endures energy deficits
and relies on supplies from the electricity-rich north of the
country, was especially affected by the influx.
Kazakhstan's national electricity provider KEGOS said that "due
to a significant emergency imbalance created by the energy system
of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan), there was a surge in
power for the transit of electricity" between grids in Kazakhstan.
Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that the airport in
Almaty, where the power cut did not affect the whole city, was
continuing to work normally, but that Tashkent's airport had
stopped receiving flights due to the power outage.
Tashkent's metro, the largest in the region, had also ceased
working, an AFP correspondent noted, adding that tap water was
barely running.
