Central Asian nations Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, are grappling with a growing energy crisis as plummeting water levels impair the operations of their main hydropower plants, officials said Friday.
In Tajikistan, the reservoir feeding the massive Nurek Hydropower Plant has dropped by 2.47 metres over the past year, according to the national utility. Meanwhile in Kyrgyzstan, the reservoir serving the Toktogul Hydropower Plant has lost about two billion cubic metres — roughly 20 % of its volume — President Sadyr Japarov told reporters.
Both former Soviet republics depend heavily on hydropower, relying on Soviet‐era infrastructure for most domestic electricity. With rising domestic demand and aging systems, the drop in water is severely straining supply. In Kyrgyzstan, restaurants were ordered to close at 10 p.m. and public lighting shut off by 6 p.m. to conserve energy.
The problem stems from a combination of drought, rising temperatures and retreating glaciers — characteristics of worsening climate stress in the region, home to roughly 20,000 glaciers.
Both governments are scrambling to respond. In Tajikistan, officials warned they would dismiss those caught in “irrational” use of electricity. In parallel, new large‐scale hydro projects are under construction — the Kambar‑Ata Hydropower Plant in Kyrgyzstan and the Rogun Hydropower Plant in Tajikistan — which once completed may boost production and enable energy exports to neighbouring countries.
Energy experts say the crisis highlights the double challenge for these countries: aging infrastructure plus a shifting climate regime. Unless adaptation and investment accelerate, the risk of increasingly frequent power disruptions looms large heading into the winter season.