- Cuba’s largest electricity producer shuts down at around 2 a.m.
- The country’s oil-fired power plants reached full crisis this year.
- System failure leaves Havana almost completely in the dark.
HAVANA: The Cuban government said the national electrical system collapsed early Wednesday morning after the country’s largest power plant malfunctioned, the latest of many similar outages as the island’s grid descends into chaos amid fuel shortages, natural disasters and an economic crisis.
The country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines said that the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant in Matanzas, the island’s largest electricity producer, shut down around 2 a.m., causing the grid to collapse.
Cuba’s oil-fired power plants, already outdated and struggling to keep the lights on, reached full crisis this year as oil imports from Venezuela, Russia and Mexico dwindled, contributing to nationwide power outages spanning two months. .
The system failure on Wednesday morning left the capital, Havana, almost completely in the dark, according to A Reuters a witness. The lights can only be seen before sunrise at a few large hotels and government buildings across the city skyline.
Reports of power outages elsewhere in Cuba on social media indicate that the entire island with a population of about 10 million was without power, although the government has not yet confirmed the extent of the outages.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines said it is working to reconnect the electrical system.
Cuba’s grid collapsed several times in October as fuel supplies dwindled and Hurricane Oscar struck the far east of the island, and then again in November as Hurricane Rafael passed through.