On December 11–12, Kyrgyzstan recorded unprecedented electricity consumption levels. The new records were driven by the onset of cold weather.

According to power engineers, daily electricity consumption during this period reached 78.9 million kWh, with peak demand hitting 3,612 MW. This is a historical maximum for the country. For comparison, the previous record was set on December 14 last year, when consumption reached 73.37 million kWh with a peak demand of 3,401 MW. However, last year’s temperatures were significantly lower, ranging from -8 to -20 degrees Celsius, compared to this year’s range of -5 to -14 degrees Celsius during the same period.

Power engineers note that equipment overloads in areas with high electricity consumption require additional efforts to maintain the stability of the power supply. In the event of an overload, it takes power engineers 1 to 2 hours to redistribute the load to other lines, which may result in brief power outages. If no measures are taken, such overloads could lead to the failure of expensive equipment. For example, replacing a 220 kV transformer with a capacity of 250 MVA can cost over $1.5 million and take about 1 to 1.5 months to install.

The electricity shortage is observed not only in Kyrgyzstan but also in other Central Asian countries. Despite calls from experts to conserve electricity, demand continues to rise, which requires maximum efforts from power engineers.

"The hydrogenerators of "Electric Plants" OJSC are operating at the limit of their capacity, with maximum output at the Toktogul HPP, where after the reconstruction of the hydroaggregates, the plant reached a capacity of 1,260 MW, and the daily output amounted to 27.53 million kWh. All the plants of the lower cascade of the Naryn HPP continue to operate at maximum capacity. The Toktogul HPP reservoir is also continuing to fill, and as of December 12, the water volume is 12.23 billion cubic meters, although the water discharge has increased to 932 m³/s," reports the Ministry of Energy.

This year, power engineers managed to accumulate 13.257 billion cubic meters of water, which is 1.5 billion cubic meters more than last year. However, if high electricity consumption continues, the water level in the reservoir may drop to a critical level of 6.5–6.2 billion cubic meters by April 2025.

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