The Cuban Electrical Union (UNE), under the management of the Ministry of Energy and Minesannounced this Tuesday that it has managed to restore the connection of the electrical service after the general blackout that affected the island since last Friday.
In a statement, the entity reported that the national electrical system was “synchronized” around 2:44 p.m. (local time). In addition, he has pointed out that before this reconnection, more than 95% of users in provinces such as Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Havana, Mayabeque, Las Tunas and Holguín already had electricity.
The general director of Electricity of the ministry, Lazaro Guerrahas warned on Cuban state television that the recovery of the connection It does not imply that there is stable electrical flow and the blackouts are overcome, because the generation capacityjust as before the total blackout on Friday, is insufficient.
“There will be no generation capacity for the demand,” said Guerra, who has advanced that the UNE will have to go back to “managing the loads because cannot meet all the demand“In fact, the entity has indicated that the generation deficit in the National Electric System will affect the “emergency” service in Havana, in circuits of the municipalities of Habana del Este, Centro Habana, Arroyo Naranjo and San Miguel del Padrón.
This blackout, which lasted four days, took place due to a breakdown in a key thermoelectric plant in the west of the country. The situation has sparked protests and riots in several cities. Given these demonstrations, the president of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canelwarned on Sunday that his Government would not tolerate “acts of vandalism.”
The electricity outages have coincided with the passage of Hurricane Oscar, which mainly affected the eastern area of Cuba. This meteorological phenomenon has left at least six dead, caused major flooding and forced part of the population in the most affected areas to evacuate.
The precedents
Cuba had been experiencing prolonged daily blackouts since the end of August. This Thursday it had been reached the maximum deficit rate of 2024after overcoming a simultaneous impact that shut down more than half of the country. This is the worst percentage in recent years, including the deficit peaks earlier this year and in July and August 2021 and 2022.
In Havana, which is usually preserved from the crisis due to its capital status, The minimum daily blackouts were already six hours. In some municipalities they had been exceeding 20 hours a day for weeks.
The authorities point out as the cause of these problems the shortage of imported fuel to supply the engines and power plants, and the repeated breakdowns in their obsolete thermoelectric plants.
Cuba, according to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, consumes eight million tons of fuel per year, of which it only produces three million. The Government has stated on some occasion that it dedicates more than 2,000 million dollars to this area annually. Allies like Venezuela, Russia and Mexico They have been providing the country with most of the energy it requires.
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