Cuba plunged into darkness as power plant failure brings down grid

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed early this morning local time, leaving millions of people without electricity. The cause was a failure at the country’s largest power plant, the Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines said, according to Reuters. It added that it was working to restore supplies.

Cuba has experienced several power outages for various reasons over the past two months. The Cuban energy system has been thrown into chaos by fuel shortages, natural disasters and the economic crisis.

According to a witness cited by Reuters, the capital Havana was almost entirely in darkness this morning. Before sunrise, lights could be seen in only a few hotels and government buildings. Social media posts suggest that the entire island, with a population of around ten million, is without power. The government has yet to confirm the extent of the outage. Energy Minister Antonio Guiteras only said that the problem was caused by a failure at a power plant in the city of Matanzas, about 100 kilometres east of Havana.

Cuba’s economy has been in deep crisis for years. Power outages are frequent in Cuba, and the communist government blames them on US sanctions, but the main cause is outdated and poorly maintained energy infrastructure. Around 95 per cent of the country’s electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, especially oil. The situation has also been worsened in recent years by reduced oil supplies from Venezuela, which, like Cuba, faces US sanctions over human rights and civil liberties violations.

In October, Cuba experienced several major power outages. One affected half the country and lasted up to 20 hours in some provinces; the following day, a blackout hit almost all of Cuba. Several smaller outages followed, which on the island also mean water supply interruptions. In early November, Hurricane Rafael caused a power outage.