According to the press service of the Ministry of Energy, a significant technical failure occurred on October 19 at 19:05 at the «Aksa Tashkent» thermal power plant, located in the Kibray district. The station's generating capacity dropped sharply from 460 MW to 185 MW following the unexpected activation of the transformer protection system.

Preliminary assessments indicate that the disruption was triggered by damage to the T-5 transformer unit. This sudden drop in capacity immediately crippled the local grid, resulting in widespread and temporary power outages across several key districts of Tashkent, including Yunusabad, Almazar, Mirzo-Ulugbek, and Shaykhantakhur.

Authorities claim that thanks to prompt interventions by emergency crews, partial power was restored in the Yunusabad and Almazar districts by 19:09. Electricity supply was purportedly fully restored by 19:25 utilizing backup power sources, while remaining affected areas were brought back online by 19:38, avoiding a more prolonged crisis.

Official reports suggest that the bizarre root cause of the blackout was a stray balloon drifting into the plant's open switchgear facility. In the wake of this incident, regulators have issued a public appeal urging citizens to refrain from releasing balloons near power plants, substations, and other critical electrical infrastructure.

Source: uznews.uz