The Ministry of Energy and Mines (Minem) recognized this Thursday that there is currently “zero national energy coverage” throughout the island, a total blackout, after the complete collapse of the system due to a breakdown in a central thermoelectric key.
The general director of Electricity, Lazaro Guerramade these statements in an intervention on state television after Minem previously announced on social networks that the “total disconnection” of the National Electrical System (SEN) had occurred.
The Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, assured for his part that “the country’s leadership” is dedicating “absolute priority to the attention and solution of this highly sensitive energy contingency for the nation” and stressed that “there will be no rest” until that the electricity flow be reestablished in the country.
According to Minem, the collapse of the system occurred as a result of a problem at the Guiteras thermoelectric plant, one of the largest in the country, which forced technicians to remove it from the system. This infrastructure, UNE itself reported this Thursday, already required maintenance for a few days after being operational all summer (and having been in operation for more than four decades).
Similar situation in 2022
In September 2022, a similar situation of “zero production” occurred after Category Three Hurricane Ian passed through the western end of the island. This caused a mismatch in the dimensions of the tombs and left the entire country in darkness. Recovery took days.
Cuba is immersed in a serious energy crisis due to the deficit of fuel – the result of the lack of foreign currency to import it – for its engines and generating plants, and the obsolescence of its seven thermoelectric plants, of Soviet manufacture and with a lack of investments and maintenances.
For this Friday, the UNE expected that, at the time of maximum demand, there would be a blackout that would simultaneously affect 49% of the country. This is the second highest percentage of impact expected so far this year, after the maximum of around 51% was set this Thursday. At the beginning of the year, rates of over 40% were already recorded.
The Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrerocompared this Thursday in an unusual way on television to talk about the current “national emergency” and announced the measures to paralyze all non-essential state work activities, such as hospitals and food production centers.
Frequent blackouts damage the Cuban economy – which in 2023 contracted 1.9% and is still below 2019 levels – and drive social discontent in a society affected by the economic crisis that has worsened in recent years.
The frequent blackouts have also been catalysts for the latest anti-government protests of some magnitude on the island, including those on July 11, 2021 – the largest in decades – and those on March 17 in Santiago de Cuba (east) and others. . localities.
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