Blackouts reported in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan all reported blackouts on Friday, which Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said had been caused by a "sudden change in the power flow" from the Central Asian grid.

The countries share an interconnected power grid, so a failure of the grid in one nation can quickly spread to neighbouring countries. 

The energy ministries of all four countries confirmed outages. Work was under way to restore power, they added. 

Alatau Zharyk Company, which supplies electricity to Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty and the surrounding region, said disruption began at 14:38 local time (09:38 GMT).

Data showed that high-voltage lines ran by KEGOC, Kazakhstan's national operator, experienced an emergency shutdown, after which protection systems were triggered.

Residents of Almaty, Bishkek and Dushanbe affected 

Almaty's 2.35 million residents reported power cuts, as well as residents of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek. Local media in Tajikistan reported outages in the capital, Dushanbe, and second city Khujand.

KEGOC later issued a statement on Friday blaming a power surge from the Central Asian regional grid for the problem and said that three major transmission lines automatically tripped offline for safety reasons. 

Work to restore power supply to consumers was "continuing," KEGOC added. Tajikistan's Ministry of Energy also later said that power had been restored to all regions of the country.

Electricity shortages are common in Central Asia, where traditional reliance on hydropower has posed problems as climate change leaves hydroelectric stations vulnerable to water shortages.

Read more from Central Asia:

• Russian Black Sea disruption could pressure Kazakhstan’s grain market
• Central Asia economy tops $543 billion as Kazakhstan leads regional growth
• Kazakhstan begins new highway to cut China-Europe freight journeys

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