Cuba is experiencing its latest nationwide blackout, leaving millions without electricity after the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas shut down overnight. The country’s top electricity producer, which supplies most of the island’s energy, had stopped operating about 2am GMT on Wednesday.
The collapse of the national power grid has plunged the capital, Havana, into darkness, with only a handful of large hotels and government buildings having lights. Reports suggest the entire island of 10 million people is without power, although the government has yet to confirm the extent of the outage.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has announced efforts to restore power, which are expected to be completed by Thursday. The power plant’s shutdown has added to Cuba’s ongoing energy crisis, which has been exacerbated by fuel shortages and economic instability.
The country has experienced frequent power outages in recent months due to fuel scarcity and infrastructure challenges. Hurricane Raphael struck the island as a Category 3 storm in November, causing widespread damage and disrupting the grid. The authorities have attributed previous outages to difficulties in acquiring fuel for power plants, which they attribute to the US trade embargo imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/4/millions-without-power-as-cuba-hit-by-another-nationwide-blackout