Early on Saturday morning, Cuba’s power system suffered another shutdown, according to state-controlled media, causing a total loss of power all over the country. This occurred just a few hours after power restoration was said to have started. As reported by CubaDebate, one of the island’s state-media platforms, UNE, the country’s power operator, confirmed a “complete disconnect of the nationwide electrical system” at 6.15am.
The brief statement mentioned that restoration efforts were in progress by the Electric Union. It was on Friday around noon when the power system first failed, with a major power station coming to a halt, resulting in over 10 million people losing access to electricity. Prior to the power failure, due to electricity shortages on Friday, non-crucial state workers had been asked to return home, and schools had been closed as an attempt to save fuel for power generation made by the communist-led Cuban government.
However, the first signs of hope for restoring power emerged on Friday evening when lights in some parts of the island started flickering back on. There’s still no information available from the grid operator about what led to the Saturday’s crash or the timeline for restoring services.
The ongoing blackouts, which sometimes last up to 20 hours daily, have been blamed by the country’s government on crumbling infrastructure, a lack of fuel and increasing demand. Officials have said the strong winds starting with Hurricane Milton have hindered the island’s power plants from receiving scant fuel supply from offshore boats.
Furthermore, assistance in the form of fuel from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, has lessened considerably this year. Venezuela, a key ally, has cut subsidies for fuel to Cuba by 50%, forcing them to find alternatives in the spot market, which is considerably more expensive. The difficulties Cuba faces maintaining and operating its oil-powered plants, and obtaining fuel and spare parts, have been blamed on the US trade embargo and sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency. On Friday, the United States rejected any involvement in Cuba’s power system failure, as per Reuters’ report.
(c) Thomson Reuters 2024