Minister dismisses Kanye West concert sphere as cause of Almaty blackout

Kazakhstan's Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov has definitively ruled out any connection between a massive glowing sphere used for Kanye West's concert and a significant power outage that affected Almaty and its surrounding region. Social media speculation had suggested the concert equipment might have caused the blackout.

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Can you imagine the Atyrau Oil Refinery? It consumes 90 megawatts of electricity. In this case, the outage totaled 600 megawatts. Therefore, a sphere that consumes 5–10 megawatts could in no way affect the stability of the southern part of our energy grid.

Akkenzhenov clarified that the energy consumption of such equipment is minuscule compared to the scale of the power loss. "Can you imagine the Atyrau Oil Refinery? It consumes 90 megawatts of electricity. In this case, the outage totaled 600 megawatts," he explained. "Therefore, a sphere that consumes 5–10 megawatts could in no way affect the stability of the southern part of our energy grid."

The minister stressed that he "completely rules out any impact from Kanye West's equipment and, in general, any outside influence or intentional interference." He attributed the incident to an accident that requires thorough investigation. Two commissions have been established to determine the precise causes. One commission is working within Kazakhstan to understand why the shutdown occurred and how the power grids reacted. A state commission, headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Nurlybek Nalibayev, is also reviewing preliminary findings and clarifying specific details.

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I completely rule out any impact from Kanye West's equipment and, in general, any outside influence or intentional interference. This was an accident that must be investigated thoroughly.

The blackout occurred on August 14 around 3:00 PM, initially affecting various districts of Almaty before extending to the Almaty region. The Ministry of Energy described it as a "power surge," a sudden fluctuation in electricity flow from the Central Asian energy system that triggered emergency automation, leading to temporary disconnections. The consequences for Almaty included the failure of traffic lights, causing widespread traffic jams, and prompting police to increase their duty schedule with traffic controllers deployed to manage intersections.

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The commission will present its findings in the near future.