(Havana) – The closure of Cuba's main thermal power plant has caused the collapse of the entire electrical system on the island, in the context of an “energy emergency,” the Cuban Ministry of Energy and Mines said on Friday.
“The system is without electricity throughout the country,” Lázaro Guerra, director general of electricity at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, told state television, after the Antonio Guiteras plant was closed.
The previous day, the government had announced the suspension of work in the public sector, among other measures, to deal with the energy crisis affecting the island.
In recent weeks, residents of several governorates have experienced up to 20 hours without electricity per day.
When the power station closed, “the system collapsed,” Mr. Guerra said, and the government was mobilized to restore it as quickly as possible.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on the
Diaz-Canel announced on Thursday that Cuba was going through a state of “energy emergency” due to difficulties in purchasing the fuel needed to operate its power plants, due to the tightening of the blockade imposed by Washington on the island since 1962.
To address this situation, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced the suspension of all non-essential state activities, while the electricity deficit reached nearly 50% on Thursday.
Electricity is produced on the island from eight dilapidated thermal power plants, sometimes idle or under maintenance, in addition to seven floating power plants that the government leases to Russian companies, and generators. Most of this infrastructure requires fuel to operate.
The island is currently experiencing its worst crisis in three decades, with food and medicine shortages and chronic power outages.
