The state Electric Union (UNE) of Cuba announced this Friday that it managed to reconnect the national electrical system after the total collapse it suffered last Tuesday due to Hurricane Ian.
(In context: Cuba completes more than 12 hours of total blackout after the passage of Hurricane Ian)
The western and central circuits were linked, so that they once again operate as a single electrical power distribution system, although that does not mean that the current has been restored in Cuban territory.
(See also: Hurricane Ian leaves “considerable damage” in Cuba and now threatens Florida)
The technical director of the UNE, Lázaro Guerra, assured on Cuban television that it is an “important step,” but acknowledged that the generation capacity deficit will persist because several thermoelectric plants are out of service.
He indicated that there are problems, due to failure or disconnection, in seven of the 14 plants in the country, including Antonio Guiteras (west) and Felton (east), the two with the highest capacity.
The passage of Hurricane Ian, with intense rains and winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour (km/h), It caused an imbalance in the system – for reasons that have not yet been fully explained – that led to its collapse, at the time of “zero generation” of energy, as explained by the UNE.
Blackout protests
Since then most of the 11.1 million Cubans they have no power at all or receive electricity for a few hours a day.
This is causing serious upheavals in a country that was already mired in a serious economic crisis, with food and medicine shortages and high inflation.
The supply of running water -which requires electric pumps- has been largely stopped since Ian’s passage, telecommunications work with difficulty, many stores remain closed and gas stations cannot supply fuel, which hampers transportation.
In homes, food is spoiling because the refrigerators don’t cool and you can’t even cook because many hobs are electric. In fact, in the last hours, There were protests in some areas of the country due to the blackouts, according to a reporter from EL TIEMPO.
Cuba previously suffered from an energy crisis, with prolonged daily blackouts throughout the country, sometimes lasting up to twelve consecutive hours. The Government aspired to largely solve the power outages by the end of the year with maintenance and new investments.
Ian crossed the western end of Cuba from south to north last Tuesday, leaving three dead and extensive material damage, without an official balance so far.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With Eph
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