On July 17, a massive power outage hit Bishkek and several regions of Kyrgyzstan, according to infohub.kz.
Around 2:08 p.m., residents of the capital began reporting blackouts from various districts. Power was temporarily cut in the area of Kyrgyz State Technical University named after Razzaqov, southern microdistricts, central Bishkek, the Mossovet area, the Vostok-5 microdistrict, near the Taatas shopping center and Dordoi market, as well as settlements around the capital. Later, outages were reported in Kant, Naryn, Manas, Kaindy, Tokmok, Panfilov village, Panfilov district, and parts of Osh region including Kara-Suu.
The National Electrical Network of Kyrgyzstan JSC said it was investigating the cause of the accident. The Energy Ministry reported that the 220 kV Kar-Balta - Glavnaya and Glavnaya - Shu high-voltage power lines were disconnected, triggering automatic load shedding. "The causes of the technological disruption are being determined," the ministry said.
By 3:30 p.m., power was restored in most affected areas. However, soon after, residents of some Bishkek districts reported further outages - the city center, along Suyumbaev Street and Zhibek Zhol Avenue were without power. In the area of Kyrgyz State Technical University, some residents said electricity had not returned. After the second outage, power supply in the city center began to recover.
Due to the emergency power cut, Bishkek's water intake facilities temporarily stopped working. The city administration said that after power is restored, water supply will return gradually because booster pumping stations require manual restart. Specialists from Bishkekvodokanal have begun restoring equipment.
This is not the first major power failure in the capital recently. On June 6, a significant part of Bishkek also lost power after a cargo truck damaged a power line.