Sawt Falasteen - Cuba experiences nationwide blackout after power plant failure

"The system was left without power nationwide" after the unexpected shutdown of the Antonio Guiteras power plant, Lazaro Guerra, director general of electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, told state television.

When the power plant shut down, "the system collapsed," he said, adding that the government was working to restore service as soon as possible to the island's 11 million people.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero declared an "energy emergency" after weeks of disruptions, which saw some provinces without power for up to 20 hours a day.

He suspended all non-essential public sector activities in order to prioritize electricity supply to homes.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Friday on social media platform X that the government would "not rest" until the lights were back on and the energy crisis resolved.

- Worst crisis in 30 years -

He blamed the situation on Cuba's difficulties in acquiring fuel for its power plants, which he attributed to the tightening of a six-decade-long US trade embargo under former president Donald Trump.

Cuba is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, marked by sky-high inflation and shortages of food, medicine, fuel and even water.

While the authorities chiefly blame the US embargo, the island is also still feeling the aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, which hit tourism hard.

The island's electricity is generated by eight aging thermal power plants, some of which have broken down or are under maintenance, as well as seven floating plants leased from Turkish companies and a raft of generators.

In 2022, the island suffered months of daily hours-long power outages, culminating in a nationwide blackout on September 27 that year, caused by Hurricane Ian.

The situation eased in 2023 but in March this year, maintenance work on the Antonio Guiteras plant, which is located about 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the capital, again caused rolling power cuts.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST