Cuba reconnected its national electrical grid, restoring power to much of Havana nearly two days after an outage affected 10 million people. The city’s electric company reported that two-thirds of clients regained electricity. The failure was due to a short at a substation, further stressing an already unstable energy infrastructure. Despite progress, electricity generation remains below typical demand levels as the government seeks to develop solar energy solutions.
Cuba has successfully reconnected its national electrical grid, restoring power to the majority of Havana by Sunday evening. This restoration occurred nearly two days after a widespread power outage impacted approximately 10 million residents. According to Havana’s electric company, around two-thirds of clients regained electricity, with expectations for further improvements overnight.
The blackout began Friday night due to a transmission line failure at a Havana substation, which initiated a cascading shutdown of power generation across the entire island. Commerce was severely affected in Havana, leading to the closure of numerous businesses and disruption of street lighting in the bustling city of two million inhabitants.
By late Sunday, the grid operator confirmed that Cuba’s two largest oil-fired power plants, Felton and Antonio Guiteras, had resumed operations, marking a significant step in the power restoration effort. Additionally, electricity reached the western province of Pinar del Río just before nightfall, completing the restoration process.
This grid failure was Cuba’s fourth national blackout since October, exacerbated by ageing oil-fired plants that have struggled amidst reduced oil imports from nations such as Venezuela and Russia. Even prior to the outage, many Cubans faced daily power blackouts lasting over 20 hours.
Although progress was made in restoring power, officials acknowledged that electricity generation remained at only one-third of the usual daily demand, leaving many residents still without power. The Ministry of Education announced that schools in Pinar del Río, Artemisa, and Mayabeque provinces would remain closed until Tuesday to ensure suitable conditions for students.
Cuba attributes its ongoing energy crisis to a U.S. trade embargo from the Cold War era and recent intensified sanctions imposed by former President Donald Trump. In response, the Cuban government is actively pursuing the establishment of large solar farms with assistance from China to mitigate reliance on outdated oil-fired electricity generation.
In summary, Cuba has managed to restore power to most of Havana following a significant grid failure that affected millions. With the reactivation of critical power plants and the gradual return of electricity, the situation improves although challenges remain. The Cuban government continues to face energy supply issues partly attributed to geopolitical factors and is exploring alternative energy sources to enhance sustainability.
Original Source: gazette.com
