The massive power outage in Almaty and other southern regions of Kazakhstan has once again raised the question of whether infrastructure is keeping pace with the pace of urban development. Economist Eldar Shamsutdinov, chairman of the Public Council of the Ministry of National Economy and independent director of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund, believes that the capacity deficit is becoming a systemic problem... reports the website infohub.kz.
In his Telegram channel, he noted that in Kazakhstan, housing is often commissioned faster than the necessary utility and energy infrastructure is created.
"Apartments appeared faster than water in the taps. The load on the networks is growing, and new capacities are not keeping up with it," Shamsutdinov said.
According to him, the situation has already manifested in Astana. After the commissioning of 2.4 million square meters of housing in 2022, the capital faced an acute water shortage in 2023. The economist believes that similar risks are emerging in other major cities of the country.
Against this backdrop, Almaty on August 14 was among the regions affected by a large-scale blackout. As reported by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the cause was an emergency power imbalance caused by a sharp change in the flow of electricity from the energy systems of Central Asia.
As a result, emergency automation was triggered, temporarily disconnecting some consumers to protect the national energy system from more serious consequences.
Currently, the system operator KEGOC is carrying out restoration work and gradually returning the load to the grid. The Ministry of Energy stated that the situation is under control.
Due to the outages in Almaty, traffic lights stopped working, the metro halted, and in some areas there were interruptions in water supply. Traffic jams in the city reached 9 points according to 2GIS.
Shamsutdinov links such incidents not only to accidents but also to accumulated infrastructure problems. In his opinion, the growth in electricity and water consumption requires a more balanced approach to urban development and the construction of new capacities.