Cuba grid collapses again, hurricane heaps on misery

Cuba is facing a severe power crisis, with millions of people left without electricity for days.

 


Image for illustration purposes.

Cuba’s power grid has been plagued by frequent power blackouts, and the latest outage has been described as the worst in years.

Causes of the Outage

The Cuban government has blamed the outage on a combination of factors, including a failure at one of the country’s major power plants, increased demand from small- and medium-sized companies and residential air conditioners, and a lack of fuel to generate electricity.

Impact of the Outage

The power outage has had a significant impact on daily life in Cuba, with many people resorting to cooking with improvised wood stoves on the streets and food spoiling in refrigerators. The outage has also affected essential services such as water supply, which relies on electricity to run pumps.

Government Response

The Cuban government has announced emergency measures to slash electricity demand, including suspending school and university classes, shutting down some state-owned workplaces, and cancelling nonessential services. The government has also leased seven floating power plants from Turkish companies and added many small diesel-powered generators to bolster its grid.

Long-term Solutions

Cuba is working to upgrade its power grid and reduce its reliance on imported fuel. The country has announced plans to build 31 solar power plants, which is expected to be completed next year.

Source: Reuters