Cuba's electricity grid collapses for second time

Cuba's government has said it is again working to reestablish electrical service across the island after state-run media reported the national grid had collapsed for a second time in 24 hours.

The country's top electricity official, Lazaro Guerra, said on a morning TV news programme that another grid malfunction in western Cuba had forced technicians to once again begin connecting three important power plants to the system, temporarily stalling progress.

"I can not assure you that we will be able to complete linking the system today, but we are estimating that there should be important progress today," Mr Guerra said.

Just prior to his statement, CubaDebate, one of the island's state-run media outlets, said the grid operator, UNE, had reported a "total disconnection of the national electro-energetic system."

Mr Guerra did not directly confirm the total collapse, leaving some confusion as to what exactly had taken place.

Cuba's electrical grid first collapsed around midday yesterday after one of the island`s largest power plants failed, suddenly leaving more than 10 million people without power.

Even before the grid's collapse, an electricity shortfall had forced Cuba's communist-run government to send non-essential state workers home and cancel school classes for children as it sought to conserve fuel for generation.

However lights began to flicker on in scattered pockets across the island early yesterday evening, offering some hope that power would be restored.

The grid operator has not yet provided any details on what caused the grid to collapse again, or how long it will take to reestablish service.

Cuba`s government has blamed weeks of worsening blackouts - often 10 to 20 hours a day across much of the island - on deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.

Strong winds that began with Hurricane Milton last week had also complicated the island's ability to deliver scarce fuel from boats offshore to feed its power plants, officials have said.

Fuel deliveries to the island have dropped off significantly this year, as Venezuela, Russia and Mexico, once key suppliers, have reduced their exports to Cuba.

Key ally Venezuela slashed by half its deliveries of subsidised fuel to Cuba this year, forcing the island to search elsewhere for far more pricey oil on the spot market.

Cuba's government also blames the US trade embargo, as well as sanctions under then-President Donald Trump, for ongoing difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts to operate and maintain its oil-fired plants.

"The complex scenario is caused primarily by the intensification of the economic war and financial and energy persecution of the United States," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X.

Yesterday the United States denied any role in the grid collapse in Cuba.

A White House National Security Council spokesperson said: "The United States is not to blame for today's blackout on the island, or the overall energy situation in Cuba."

A State Department official said the US was closely monitoring the potential humanitarian impact of the blackout but that the Cuban government had not requested assistance.

The blackout marks a new low point on an island where life has become increasingly unbearable, with residents suffering from shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine.

Virtually all commerce in Havana ground to a halt yesterday. Many residents sat sweating on doorsteps.

Tourists hunkered down in frustration. By nightfall, the city was almost completely enveloped in darkness.

"We went to a restaurant and they had no food because there was no power, now we are also without internet," said Brazilian tourist Carlos Roberto Julio, who had recently arrived in Havana.

"In two days, we have already had several problems."

Prime Minister Manuel Marrero this week blamed worsening blackouts during the past several weeks on a perfect storm well-known to most Cubans: deteriorating infrastructure, fuel shortages and rising demand.

"The fuel shortage is the biggest factor," Mr Marrero said in a televised message to the nation.

For many Cubans, far removed from politics and accustomed to regular power outages, the nationwide blackout was nothing more than a normal last night.

Carlos Manuel Pedre said he had defaulted to simple pleasures to pass the time.

"In the times we're living in, with everything happening in our country, the most logical entertainment is dominoes," he said as he played the popular game with friends.

"We're in total crisis."

While demand for electricity has grown in recent years alongside Cuba's fledgling private sector, fuel supply has fallen sharply.

Cuba's largest oil supplier, Venezuela, has reduced shipments to the island to an average of 32,600 barrels per day in the first nine months of the year, barely half the 60,000 bpd (barrel per day) sent in the same period of 2023, according to vessel-monitoring data and internal shipping documents from Venezuela's state company PDVSA.

PDVSA, whose refining infrastructure is also ailing, has this year tried to avoid a new wave of fuel scarcity at home, leaving smaller volumes available for export to allied countries like Cuba.

Russia and Mexico, which in the past have sent fuel to Cuba, have also greatly reduced shipments.

The shortfalls have left Cuba to fend for itself on the far costlier spot market at a time when its government is near-bankrupt.