Cuba struggles to get energy grid back online after nationwide blackout

The Cuban authorities has started to reconstruct powerfulness to the millions of residents near successful the acheronian during a nationwide powerfulness outage this week.

On Saturday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel sought to reassure the country, amid the continuing struggles with the electrical grid.

“We are moving hard and tirelessly to retrieve the electrical system, according to priority, successful bid to execute stability,” helium wrote connected the societal media level X.

He besides praised assemblage leaders during the crisis. “It’s admirable, the contented and poise of those who are heroes successful these analyzable hours, galore of them young.”

The president’s comments travel aft the full state was plunged into acheronian connected Friday, successful what experts called the worst blackout successful 2 years.

It was the culmination of respective days of flickering power, starting connected Thursday.

Authorities astatine the clip warned the electrical strategy was overloaded, and they called connected nonessential activities to stop. Schools were closed until Monday, and definite authorities workers were sent home.

By Friday, however, 1 of the superior powerfulness plants — the Antonio Guiteras works successful the occidental portion of the land — had failed.

That caused the powerfulness grid to collapse, leaving the full state without electricity.

State-run media reported connected Saturday that determination was a 2nd collapse, but that crews had begun reconnecting the 3 large powerfulness plants.

“I cannot guarantee you that we volition beryllium capable to implicit linking the strategy today, but we are estimating that determination should beryllium important advancement today,” Lazaro Guerra, Cuba’s apical energy official, told a greeting quality programme, according to the Reuters quality agency.

The Ministry of Energy and Mining besides acknowledged the Saturday greeting hiccups successful a statement.

“Due to the method complexity of the electrical strategy restoration process, disconnections of the subsystems whitethorn occur, arsenic happened successful the west,” it said. “Work is being done connected their restoration.”

President Diaz-Canel visited the National Electricity Office connected Saturday to amusement his enactment for the betterment efforts. “We volition look from this hard situation,” his medication wrote connected societal media.

Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy besides offered updates astir the progress.

“Generation volition gradually proceed to increase,” helium said, explaining that they “already person 500 megawatts successful the system” and “various substations successful the westbound person energy”.

Cuba has agelong struggled with blackouts and instability successful its electrical grid, arsenic the effect of ageing infrastructure, substance shortages and a floundering economy.

Officials besides pointed to the caller ravages of Hurricane Milton, which struck the state with dense winds and flooding connected October 9.

Critics, however, person besides blamed mismanagement successful the Cuban authorities for the vigor crisis.

Just this year, successful March, hundreds of protesters demonstrated successful the superior Havana against nutrient and substance shortages, arsenic the country’s system suffers 1 of its worst crises since the 1990s.

United States sanctions person exacerbated the situation, arsenic has instability successful countries similar Venezuela, 1 of Cuba’s apical petrol suppliers.