Cuba Works to Restore Power After Second Nationwide Grid Collapse in a Week

AP

Cuba amid nationwide blackout.

Cuba said it had begun efforts early on Sunday to restore electricity after its national grid collapsed for the second time in a week, amid the impact of a United States oil blockade that has further strained the island’s already fragile energy infrastructure.

According to grid operator UNE, the system failed on Saturday evening at 6:32 p.m. (22:32 GMT) after a major power plant in Nuevitas, in eastern Camaguey Province, went offline. The outage triggered a cascading failure, cutting power to much of the country’s population of around 10 million people.

The Cuba Ministry of Energy and Mines said it had established smaller, self-contained “microsystems” across all provinces to restore electricity to essential services, including hospitals, water supply networks and food distribution centres.

Two gas-fired power plants operated by Energas were reported to be functioning in Varadero and Boca de Jaruco. Electricity had also been restored to the nearby Santa Cruz oil-fired plant, the ministry said.

In the capital, Havana, residents were seen gathering in the streets shortly after sunrise, sitting outside their homes, discussing the situation with neighbours and enduring the conditions as authorities worked to gradually restore power.

Cellular and internet services were almost entirely unavailable across much of Cuba, leaving many residents without any means of communication.

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said the recovery effort was being carried out under “very complex circumstances”.

Cuba’s electricity system has been under severe strain for months, with frequent and prolonged outages affecting daily life. However, the latest incident marks the third major nationwide blackout this month, following a system-wide failure on 4 March caused by a breakdown at a key thermoelectric plant, and another outage earlier this week.

While the country has experienced widespread power cuts in recent years, two nationwide blackouts within a single week are considered highly unusual.

The crisis has been exacerbated by a tightening oil blockade imposed by the United States. Under President Donald Trump, measures were introduced to halt oil shipments to Cuba after Washington moved against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in early January. Venezuela had previously supplied oil to the island on favourable terms.

Since then, Washington has curtailed Venezuelan exports to Cuba and warned other countries against supplying oil, threatening punitive tariffs.

Havana, for its part, has long blamed the longstanding U.S. trade embargo for its economic difficulties, including the deterioration of its power infrastructure, while U.S. officials argue that Cuba’s economic model is responsible for the shortfalls.

Source: Reuters



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