Cuba left in the dark after country's energy grid collapses yet again

On Friday, Cuba's national electrical grid collapsed , leading to widespread blackout cross the country. The power outage left millions in the dark. Officials from the energy and mines ministry eventually released a statement in which they said an electrical substation in the capital failed at around 8:15 pm (local time), leading to a failure of national power grid.

According to Reuters, the lights went out across all of Havana’s waterfront skyline and only few tourist hotels were operating on generators. Internet services across the country were also affected due to the power outage. As per the report, people provinces as far away as Guantánamo, Artemisa, Santiago de Cuba and Santa Clara reported experiencing blackouts with flickers of light visible on the streets.

In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, the energy ministry said that it was “working on the recovery process”. Earlier that day, Electric Union, the state agency that regulates the sector, said in its daily report that peak-hour demand would be about 3,250 megawatts and the deficit would reach around 1,380MW. This means that 42 per cent of the national energy system would shut down.

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Not the first time

It is important to note that the recent grid failure followed a string of nationwide blackouts that affected the country last year. The outages plunged Cuba’s frail and antiquated power generation system into near-total disarray, raising concerns about fuel shortages, natural disasters and a looming economic crisis.

Hours-long rolling blackouts have been the norm in the country for months. Half of the country often experience power cuts during peak hours which is concerning since in many parts of the island, electricity is crucial for cooking and water pumping.

Severe shortages of food, medicine and water due to these power outages have made life increasingly unbearable for many Cubans, who in recent years have left the island in record-breaking numbers.

In light of this, authorities on the island have begun a program to install photovoltaic parks and promised that dozens of them will be ready this year. In the past, blackouts have prompted anti-government demonstrations in 2021, 2022, and 2024.

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With inputs from agencies.