A power outage This Saturday it affects eleven of Cuba’s 15 provincesthe state-owned Unión Eléctrica (UNE) reported, after another blackout across half the territory this week.
“There has been a flash in the national electricity system from Matanzas province (downtown) to Guantanamo (east),” the company explained in a briefing posted to its Telegram network account.
He indicated that “the causes are under investigation” and that they will be informed “in a timely manner once the bankruptcy is clarified”.
The affected areas range from the provinces of Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spíritu and Ciego de Ávila (center), to those of Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo (east).
Another blackout lasted five hours on Monday and it also involved seven provinces from the center to the east of the island due to a breakdown in the 220 KV (kilovolt) grid. The Ministry of Energy and Mines said the damage to the grid could have been “probably caused” by a fire in a nearby sugar cane field.
Energy crisis on the island
Cuba is going through an electricity production crisis for the poor conditions of the country’s eight thermoelectric plants, with constant breakdowns and recurring maintenance work.
The Caribbean island experienced a nationwide blackout on Sept. 27 after Hurricane Ian passed through the western provinces.
The Cuban authorities have acknowledged that in the first half of October, electricity production reached “never seen levels”, with an average autonomy of 10 hours a day without electricity for households.
However, by December the blackouts had significantly decreased.
In addition to the eight thermal power plants, the country has eight floating plants leased from Turkey, the last of which was delivered a few days ago.
Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said this week that more such mobile platforms will be brought to the island this year to boost electricity generation capacity.
Source: Clarin
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