For the second time on Saturday, Cuba has been plunged into blackout, after its electrical grid collapsed again hours after authorities announced they had begun re-establishing service.
According to CubaDebate, a state-run media outlet, the grid operator, UNE, had reported the “total disconnection of the national electro-energetic system” and was working on re-establishing it. The electrical grid first collapsed at about midday on Friday after one of the island’s largest power plants failed, leaving more than 10 million people without power.
Even before the collapse, an electricity shortfall on Friday had forced Cuba’s communist-run government to send nonessential state workers home and cancel school classes as it sought to conserve fuel for generation.
But lights began to flicker on in scattered pockets across the island early in the evening on Friday, offering some hope that power would be restored. UNE has not yet provided any details on what caused the grid to collapse again on Saturday, or how long it would take to re-establish service.
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There have been weeks of worsening blackouts, often lasting 10-20 hours, across much of the island, which Cuba’s government has blamed on deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand. Strong winds that began with Hurricane Milton last week had also made it harder to deliver scarce fuel from boats offshore, officials have said.
Fuel deliveries to the island have dropped off significantly this year, as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, once leading suppliers, have reduced their exports to Cuba. Venezuela slashed its deliveries of subsidised fuel by half this year, forcing the island to search for far more expensive oil on the spot market.
Cuba’s government also blames the US trade embargo, as well as sanctions imposed under the former US president Donald Trump, for its difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants. On Friday, the US denied any role in the grid collapse in Cuba.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
