Cuba still largely without power after nationwide grid collapse

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Cuba still largely without power after nationwide grid collapse

Dave Sherwood
Sat, March 15, 2025 at 9:28 AM EDT·2 min read

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba remained largely without power on Saturday morning after the island´s grid collapsed the night before, knocking out electricity for 10 million people and raising fresh questions about the viability of its antiquated generating system.

At sunrise, the island's grid operator UNE said it was generating only a trickle of electricity - around 225 MW, or less than 10% of total demand, enough to cover some vital services like hospitals, water supply and food production centers.

Officials said they had begun the process of firing up the country's decades-old generation plants, but gave no timeline for restoring service.

Cuba´s grid failed Friday evening around 8:15 p.m. (0015 GMT) after an aging component of a transmission line at a substation in Havana shorted, beginning a chain reaction that completely shut down power generation across the island, UNE officials said.

-snip-

Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/news/cuba-still-largely-without-power-132826848.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Cuba restores pockets of electricity after major power outage

Sunday, March 16, 2025

CUBAN authorities worked around the clock to restore pockets of electricity back to the country today. This comes after millions of people were left without power on Saturday after a failure of the nation’s electric grid left the island in the dark the previous night.

. . .

Lazaro Guerra, director of electricity at the ministry, said on national television that power was already being generated to support vital services such as hospitals.

Cuba blames the mounting energy crisis on the illegal US blockade of the country and fresh restrictions from US President Donald Trump, who recently restored the Caribbean island to a list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism.

The move by the US makes it almost impossible for the Cubans to purchase basic parts to maintain its antiquated energy infrastructure. The Cuban government is working with China to develop large solar farms in a bid to reduce dependence on its existing oil-fired system.

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/cuba-restores-pockets-electricity-after-major-power-outage