Power supply to Surkhandarya has been fully restored.

Power supply to the Surkhandarya region has been fully restored following an incident in the Unified Energy System of Central Asia that occurred on August 14 at 2:38 PM, according to the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan.

The incident caused power outages both in Uzbekistan and neighboring countries. The Ministry of Energy explained that in large power systems, the sudden shutdown of individual power plants or transmission lines can disrupt the balance between electricity production and consumption, leading to a reduction in frequency. If timely measures are not taken, this could cause the incident to spread to other regions, leading to large-scale outages and a system failure.

In Uzbekistan, the spread of the incident was prevented thanks to the operation of emergency control systems in the power grids and substations of JSC National Electric Grids of Uzbekistan. According to the ministry, the systems operated promptly, fully, and correctly.

BESS energy storage systems played an additional role in restoring the power balance. After the loss of some power, they allowed the required amount of electricity to be quickly supplied to the grid. This helped restore the balance between production and consumption and prevent a sharp drop in frequency.

The Ministry of Energy noted that replacing lost capacity solely by restarting power plants would have taken longer. Therefore, energy storage systems are important not only for storing electricity but also for maintaining the stability of the power grid during emergency situations.

The Surkhandarya region receives electricity primarily through two 500 kV transmission lines. One of them supplies electricity from the neighboring state, while the other runs from the Kashkadarya region.

At the time of the accident, one of these lines was undergoing scheduled maintenance. Due to the outage of the line supplying electricity from the neighboring state, the ability to quickly restore full power supply to the Surkhandarya region was limited.

During the operational work, the 500 kV line undergoing maintenance was brought back into operational readiness in compliance with safety requirements and reconnected. Following this, the region's power supply was restored in stages.

The Ministry of Energy emphasized that recent investments in the energy sector have demonstrated their practical value in emergency situations. Specifically, the ability of energy storage systems to quickly supply power to the grid and the operation of emergency control systems helped maintain the stability of the power system and ensure energy security.