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HAVANA (AP) — Some electricity has been restored on the island after one of the country’s main power plants malfunctioned and left millions without power for two days, the Cuban government said Saturday.
Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said the country had 500 megawatts in its electrical grid early Saturday, compared to the three gigawatts normally generated. He posted on X that “several substations in the West now have electricity.”
O Levy also said that two thermal power plants had returned and two more would resume operations “in the next few hours.”
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About half of Cuba was plunged into darkness on Thursday evening, followed by the entire island on Friday morning after one of the stations malfunctioned.
The Havana Electricity Company said in a statement earlier on Saturday that part of its western network was cut off “after one of the stations that was providing the service went out.” The issue has left some parts of the city in the dark again.
The streets of the Cuban capital, where two million people live, were quiet on Saturday, with only a few cars passing by after a night lit with candles and lamps. The impact of power outages goes beyond lighting, as services such as water supply also rely on electricity to operate pumps.
It is Cuba’s worst power outage in two years, after a Category 3 hurricane damaged power facilities and took the government days to repair. Electricity service has deteriorated this year, with many homes living in the dark for hours each day.
In addition to the Antonio Guiteras plant, whose failure on Friday affected the entire national system, Cuba has several other plants and it was not immediately clear whether they were still operating or not.
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There is no official estimate for when the power outage will end. Even in a country accustomed to power outages as part of a deepening economic crisis, the collapse in supplies on Friday was dramatic.
The Cuban government announced emergency measures to reduce electricity demand, including suspending classes, closing some state-owned workplaces, and canceling non-essential services. Officials said 1.64 gigawatts were offline during peak hours, about half of the total demand at that time.
Local authorities said the outage, which began on a smaller scale on Thursday, stemmed from increased demand from small and medium-sized businesses and air conditioners in residences. Later, the power outages were exacerbated by breakdowns in old thermal power plants that were not properly maintained and a lack of fuel to operate some facilities.
Changes to electricity prices for small and medium-sized businesses, which have proliferated since the Communist government first allowed them in 2021, are also being considered.
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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
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