Kyrgyzstan's Energy Ministry has confirmed that two hydro-generators at the Toktogul HPP briefly tripped on August 14, prior to the large-scale disruption in Central Asia's power grid. However, Bishkek considers it incorrect to blame the Kyrgyz energy system for subsequent outages in neighboring countries, including Kazakhstan, reports infohub.kz.
According to the ministry, the technical fault occurred at 15:37 on August 14. As a result, the Central Asian Unified Power System switched to isolated operation.
Upon clarifying the circumstances, specialists recorded a brief disconnection of two hydro-generators at the Toktogul HPP. The Kyrgyz ministry acknowledged that this was the 'initial disturbance' in the unified power system, leading to changes in power flows and the activation of emergency automation.
By 15:55, the frequency in the Central Asian UPS had been restored to the standard 50 Hz. The Energy Ministry claims that during this period, the Kyrgyz energy system also assisted neighboring states, providing about 250 MW of power.
The ministry separately drew attention to the situation in Almaty. According to its data, the Almaty energy hub went dark only after the frequency in the unified power system had returned to normal values.
'The initial disturbance should not be equated with the direct cause of the blackout of individual energy systems and hubs in other countries,' the Kyrgyz Energy Ministry stated.
It explained that after such disturbances, power systems should continue to operate stably in isolated mode, even at reduced frequency, until balance is restored. Therefore, the causes of outages in other Central Asian energy hubs, in the ministry's view, need to be analyzed separately.
Kyrgyzstan considers it premature to assign responsibility for all consequences of the accident to the republic's energy system until the joint technical investigation is completed. A special commission should determine the causes.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that on August 14, a massive power outage in Kazakhstan occurred after two hydro-generators at the Toktogul HPP in Kyrgyzstan tripped. According to KEGOC, this led to an overload of the North-East-South transit and the separation of the Southern zone from the Kazakhstan Unified Energy System and Central Asian power systems. The outages affected eight regions, with power fully restored by 16:34. A special commission is investigating the causes.