Cuba has experienced another critical national power grid outage, affecting the territory from the western province of Pinar del Río to the central regions of the country. The state-owned company Unión Eléctrica reported that the blackout was caused by the sudden failure of the largest thermal power plant, Antonio Guiteras. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
The failure of the Antonio Guiteras plant, located near the city of Matanzas, triggered a chain reaction in the country's outdated power grid. Experts note that it may take up to 72 hours to restore the facility's operation, as the system is in an emergency state due to a lack of spare parts and chronic underfunding.
Cuban authorities officially blame the energy collapse on years of US sanctions, which prevent the modernization of generating capacities and the purchase of necessary volumes of fuel oil for the operation of thermal power plants.
Impact of American pressure on the island's fuel supply
The situation became critical after Washington introduced additional tariffs and sanctions against any companies and countries that continue to supply oil to Cuba.
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Havana residents, already accustomed to daily scheduled outages lasting up to 20 hours, accepted the current massive blackout without protests, relying on their own generators and solar panels.
However, engineers and industry experts warn that such a state of affairs cannot be considered normal and indicates deep systemic degradation. Due to the electricity deficit, many schools in the country have stopped working, public transport movement has been restricted, and water supply in residential areas has been disrupted, putting the island on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.