On August 30, the Armenian nuclear power plant was disconnected from the country's power grid due to a system failure. 

"As a result of an accident in the power system, the NPP was disconnected from the system. At the moment, the power supply in the system has been restored. The reasons for what happened are being studied," Sona Harutyunyan, the Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, stated.

Notably, the Armenian NPP shut down due to a lightning strike. Following the incident, the plant was placed in a safe shutdown mode, and employees began the process of restarting it. The shutdown of the NPP also led to a failure at the Shahumyan-2 substation, causing power outages in several districts of Yerevan, as well as in the Armavir and Echmiadzin districts, according to Power Grids of Armenia. Power supply in Yerevan and Armavir was restored within about 15 minutes, and Echmiadzin followed shortly thereafter.

The Armenian NPP, located near the town of Metsamor, approximately 30 kilometers west of Yerevan, was built between 1969 and 1977. The plant operates two power units with VVER-440 reactors and is run in cooperation with Rosatom. This is the only operational nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus, providing up to 40% of Armenia's total electricity generation.

Azerbaijani's reaction

On September 1, Elnur Soltanov, Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Energy for Renewable Energy, expressed surprise at the weekend's immediate suspension of operations at the nuclear power plant in neighboring Armenia. 

He also voiced concerns about the technologies currently being used by Armenia, stressing the potential risks. Soltanov remarked that "not only Armenians will be harmed," indicating broader regional safety concerns.

Regarding the upcoming COP29 climate summit in Baku in November, Soltanov highlighted the mutual support that led to the lifting of Armenia's veto on Baku hosting the event. He emphasized the significance of nuclear technology and its security in addressing climate change, stating, "Because we know what is happening with certain technologies that Armenia is currently using."